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Distributionally Robust Mean-Variance Portfolio Selection with Wasserstein Distances

Author

Listed:
  • Jose Blanchet

    (Department of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305)

  • Lin Chen

    (Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027)

  • Xun Yu Zhou

    (Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027)

Abstract

We revisit Markowitz’s mean-variance portfolio selection model by considering a distributionally robust version, in which the region of distributional uncertainty is around the empirical measure and the discrepancy between probability measures is dictated by the Wasserstein distance. We reduce this problem into an empirical variance minimization problem with an additional regularization term. Moreover, we extend the recently developed inference methodology to our setting in order to select the size of the distributional uncertainty as well as the associated robust target return rate in a data-driven way. Finally, we report extensive back-testing results on S&P 500 that compare the performance of our model with those of several well-known models including the Fama–French and Black–Litterman models.

Suggested Citation

  • Jose Blanchet & Lin Chen & Xun Yu Zhou, 2022. "Distributionally Robust Mean-Variance Portfolio Selection with Wasserstein Distances," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 6382-6410, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:68:y:2022:i:9:p:6382-6410
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.4155
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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