IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/atlecj/v42y2014i1p91-107.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Constrained Mean-Variance Portfolio Optimization with Alternative Return Estimation

Author

Listed:
  • Boris Georgiev

Abstract

This paper studies the problem of asset allocation in a mean-variance framework. The theoretical model of portfolio optimization is specified and then applied to a long panel data set from historic to most recent times, March 1990 – March 2013. The paper contributes in three ways. First, an alternative asset return model is proposed that combines the historical returns, capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and returns estimated based on firm fundamentals. These return estimates enter the optimization problem. The second contribution is the application of an improved covariance matrix estimator that has superior properties compared to the typical sample covariance estimator. Third, the paper proposes two investments strategies. The first proposition suggests always choosing the maximized Sharpe ratio portfolio and the second one, the portfolio with the highest information ratio. The nature of both strategies is designed for investors with different appetites for risk. The performance of these choices is analyzed in light of four types of constraints: upper/lower investment limits, group constraints and transaction costs. The one-period optimal investment portfolio is rebalanced at quarterly intervals. Both strategies are benchmarked against an alternative investment choice such as holding the S&P 500 index, or investing in a risk-free asset such as a bond. Portfolio analysis and backtesting reveal that the strategies are superior to simply holding an equally weighted portfolio, a risk-free asset or the S&P 500 index. Copyright International Atlantic Economic Society 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Boris Georgiev, 2014. "Constrained Mean-Variance Portfolio Optimization with Alternative Return Estimation," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 42(1), pages 91-107, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:atlecj:v:42:y:2014:i:1:p:91-107
    DOI: 10.1007/s11293-013-9400-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11293-013-9400-4
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11293-013-9400-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jorion, Philippe, 1991. "Bayesian and CAPM estimators of the means: Implications for portfolio selection," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 717-727, June.
    2. Michael C. Jensen, 1968. "The Performance Of Mutual Funds In The Period 1945–1964," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(2), pages 389-416, May.
    3. Harry Markowitz, 1952. "Portfolio Selection," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 7(1), pages 77-91, March.
    4. William F. Sharpe, 1963. "A Simplified Model for Portfolio Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 277-293, January.
    5. Ledoit, Olivier & Wolf, Michael, 2003. "Improved estimation of the covariance matrix of stock returns with an application to portfolio selection," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 603-621, December.
    6. Flavin, T. J. & Wickens, M. R., 2003. "Macroeconomic influences on optimal asset allocation," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 207-231.
    7. William F. Sharpe, 1964. "Capital Asset Prices: A Theory Of Market Equilibrium Under Conditions Of Risk," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 19(3), pages 425-442, September.
    8. Dhrymes, Phoebus J & Friend, Irwin & Gultekin, N Bulent, 1984. "A Critical Reexamination of the Empirical Evidence on the Arbitrage Pricing Theory," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(2), pages 323-346, June.
    9. Yilmaz, Tolgahan, 2010. "Improving Portfolio Optimization by DCC And DECO GARCH: Evidence from Istanbul Stock Exchange," MPRA Paper 27314, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1996. "Multifactor Explanations of Asset Pricing Anomalies," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(1), pages 55-84, March.
    11. Merton, Robert C., 1980. "On estimating the expected return on the market : An exploratory investigation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 323-361, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Arezoo Mohammadi & Mehrzad Minnoei & Zadollah Fathi & Mohamamd Ali Keramati & Hossein Baktiari, 2022. "Optimal allocation of bank resources and risk reduction through portfolio decentralization," International Journal of Economic Sciences, European Research Center, vol. 11(2), pages 92-143, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zura Kakushadze & Willie Yu, 2016. "Multifactor Risk Models and Heterotic CAPM," Papers 1602.04902, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2016.
    2. Zura Kakushadze & Willie Yu, 2016. "Statistical Risk Models," Papers 1602.08070, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2017.
    3. Schanbacher Peter, 2015. "Averaging Across Asset Allocation Models," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 235(1), pages 61-81, February.
    4. Trabelsi, Mohamed Ali, 2010. "Choix de portefeuille: comparaison des différentes stratégies [Portfolio selection: comparison of different strategies]," MPRA Paper 82946, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 01 Dec 2010.
    5. Yan, Cheng & Zhang, Huazhu, 2017. "Mean-variance versus naïve diversification: The role of mispricing," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 61-81.
    6. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Han, Qiheng & Wu, Wensheng & Cao, Zhiguang, 2018. "Asset allocation strategies, data snooping, and the 1 / N rule," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 257-269.
    7. Fernando Rubio, 2005. "Eficiencia De Mercado, Administracion De Carteras De Fondos Y Behavioural Finance," Finance 0503028, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 23 Jul 2005.
    8. Zura Kakushadze, 2015. "Heterotic Risk Models," Papers 1508.04883, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2016.
    9. Bao, Te & Diks, Cees & Li, Hao, 2018. "A generalized CAPM model with asymmetric power distributed errors with an application to portfolio construction," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 611-621.
    10. Francesco Lautizi, 2015. "Large Scale Covariance Estimates for Portfolio Selection," CEIS Research Paper 353, Tor Vergata University, CEIS, revised 07 Aug 2015.
    11. Babalos, Vassilios & Caporale, Guglielmo Maria & Philippas, Nikolaos, 2012. "Efficiency evaluation of Greek equity funds," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 317-333.
    12. Peralta, Gustavo & Zareei, Abalfazl, 2016. "A network approach to portfolio selection," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(PA), pages 157-180.
    13. Wang, Christina Dan & Chen, Zhao & Lian, Yimin & Chen, Min, 2022. "Asset selection based on high frequency Sharpe ratio," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 227(1), pages 168-188.
    14. Walter Briec & Kristiaan Kerstens & Octave Jokung, 2007. "Mean-Variance-Skewness Portfolio Performance Gauging: A General Shortage Function and Dual Approach," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(1), pages 135-149, January.
    15. Jonathan Fletcher, 2009. "Risk Reduction and Mean‐Variance Analysis: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(7‐8), pages 951-971, September.
    16. Frankfurter, George M. & Phillips, Herbert E., 1996. "Normative implications of equilibrium models: Homogeneous expectations and other artificialities," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 67-83, October.
    17. Ali Naef Mohammad, 2016. "Valuation Tools for Determining the Value of Assets: A Literature Review," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 6(4), pages 63-72, October.
    18. Zhou, Jian, 2014. "Modeling conditional covariance for mixed-asset portfolios," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 242-249.
    19. Penaranda, Francisco, 2007. "Portfolio choice beyond the traditional approach," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 24481, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. DeRoon, Frans A. & Nijman, Theo E., 2001. "Testing for mean-variance spanning: a survey," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 111-155, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mean-variance optimization; Asset allocation; Investment decision; Finance; G11; G17;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G17 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Financial Forecasting and Simulation

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:atlecj:v:42:y:2014:i:1:p:91-107. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.