Portfolio Choice Implications of Parameter and Model Uncertainty in Factor Models

Portfolio Choice Implications of Parameter and Model Uncertainty in Factor Models
Author: Deniz Kebabci
Publisher:
Total Pages: 50
Release: 2009
Genre:
ISBN:

This paper examines the portfolio choice implications of incorporating parameter and model uncertainty in (conditionally) linear factor models using industry portfolios. I examine a CAPM, a linear factor model with different predictor variables (dividend yield, price to book ratio, price to earnings ratio, and price to sales ratio), and a time-varying CAPM. All approaches incorporate parameter uncertainty in a mean-variance framework. I consider a time-varying CAPM with changing conditional variance. It is shown that taking into account the time variation in market betas improves the portfolio performance as measured by the ex-post Sharpe ratio compared to both an unconditional CAPM and a linear factor model with predictor variables. I also show the implications of using a Black-Litterman framework versus using a standard mean-variance approach in the asset allocation step. Black-Litterman framework can be thought as a model averaging approach and thus helps deal with both the parameter and model uncertainty problems. I show that Black-Litterman approach results in portfolios with a higher Sharpe ratio than those obtained by a standard mean-variance framework using a single model or historical averages.

Sparse and Stable Portfolio Selection with Parameter Uncertainty

Sparse and Stable Portfolio Selection with Parameter Uncertainty
Author: Jiahan Li
Publisher:
Total Pages: 31
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

A number of alternative mean-variance portfolio strategies have been recently proposed to improve the empirical performance of the classic Markowitz mean-variance framework. Designed as remedies for parameter uncertainty and estimation errors in portfolio selection problems, these alternative portfolio strategies deliver substantially better out-of-sample performance. In this paper, we first show how to solve a general portfolio selection problem in a linear regression framework. Then we propose to reduce the estimation risk of expected returns and the variance-covariance matrix of asset returns by imposing additional constraints on the portfolio weights. With results from linear regression models, we show that portfolio weights derived from new approaches enjoy two favorable properties: sparsity and stability. Moreover, we present insights into these new approaches as well as their connections to alternative strategies in literature. Four empirical studies show that the proposed strategies have better out-of-sample performance and lower turnover than many other strategies, especially when the estimation risk is large.

Risk and Uncertainty

Risk and Uncertainty
Author: Svetlozar T. Rachev
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2011-04-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 111808618X

Advanced Stochastic Models, Risk Assessment, and Portfolio Optimization The finance industry is seeing increased interest in new risk measures and techniques for portfolio optimization when parameters of the model are uncertain. This groundbreaking book extends traditional approaches of risk measurement and portfolio optimization by combining distributional models with risk or performance measures into one framework. Throughout these pages, the expert authors explain the fundamentals of probability metrics, outline new approaches to portfolio optimization, and discuss a variety of essential risk measures. Using numerous examples, they illustrate a range of applications to optimal portfolio choice and risk theory, as well as applications to the area of computational finance that may be useful to financial engineers. They also clearly show how stochastic models, risk assessment, and optimization are essential to mastering risk, uncertainty, and performance measurement. Advanced Stochastic Models, Risk Assessment, and Portfolio Optimization provides quantitative portfolio managers (including hedge fund managers), financial engineers, consultants, and academic researchers with answers to the key question of which risk measure is best for any given problem.

Portfolio selection using behavioral models

Portfolio selection using behavioral models
Author: Andrea Gheno
Publisher: Roma TrE-Press
Total Pages: 31
Release: 2023-10-16
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Nell'ambito dei problemi di scelta in condizioni di rischio introduciamo un nuovo modello comportamentale e implementiamo un'analisi empirica basata sul confronto con il classico approccio della Teoria del Prospetto. L'applicazione di questi modelli è validata nella selezione di portafoglio attraverso tre modelli di portafoglio tradizionali utilizzati come riferimento (portafoglio a varianza minima, portafoglio a deviazione mediana assoluta e portafoglio equamente ponderato). L'obiettivo di questo lavoro di ricerca è quello di incorporare la percezione del rischio degli investitori nelle scelte dei portafogli ottimali. Proponiamo un'analisi out-of-sample di quattro indici azionari per dimostrare la superiorità dei modelli comportamentali di selezione di portafoglio rispetto a quelli tradizionali. DOI: 10.13134/979-12-5977-249-7

Essays on Portfolio Choice with Bayesian Methods

Essays on Portfolio Choice with Bayesian Methods
Author: Deniz Kebabci
Publisher:
Total Pages: 149
Release: 2007
Genre:
ISBN:

How investors should allocate assets to their portfolios in the presence of predictable components in asset returns is a question of great importance in finance. While early studies took the return generating process as given, recent studies have addressed issues such as parameter estimation and model uncertainty. My dissertation develops Bayesian methods for portfolio choice - and industry allocation in particular - under parameter and model uncertainty. The first chapter of my dissertation, Allocation to Industry Portfolios under Markov Switching Returns, addresses the effect of parameter estimation error on the relation between asset holdings and the investment horizon. This paper assumes that returns follow a regime switching process with unknown parameters. Parameter uncertainty is accounted for through a Gibbs sampling approach. After accounting for parameter estimation error, buy-and-hold investors are generally found to allocate less to stocks the longer the investment horizon. When the dividend yield and T-bill rates are included as predictor variables, the effect of these predictor variables is minimal, and the allocation to stocks is still smaller, the longer the investor's horizon. The second chapter of my dissertation, Portfolio Choice Implications of Parameter and Model Uncertainty in Factor Models, uses industry portfolios to examine the implications of incorporating uncertainty about a range of (conditionally) linear factor models. The paper specifically examines a CAPM, a linear factor model with different predictor variables (dividend yield, price to book ratio, price to earnings ratio, and price to sales ratio) and a time-varying CAPM specification. All approaches incorporate parameter uncertainty in a mean-variance framework. Time-varying CAPM specifications are intuitive in the sense that one cannot expect the environment for each industry to stay constant through time, and so the underlying parameters can be expected to be time-varying as well. Accounting for time- variation in market betas improves the portfolio performance as measured, e.g., by the Sharpe ratio compared to both an unconditional CAPM and a linear factor model with different predictor variables. The paper also looks at the implications for portfolio performance of utilizing a Black-Litterman approach versus a standard mean-variance approach in the asset allocation step. The former can be thought as a model averaging approach and thus can be expected to help dealing with model uncertainty besides the parameter estimation uncertainty. The third chapter of my dissertation, Style Investing with Uncertainty, develops methods to look at style investing. This paper analyzes the determinants that affect style investing, such as style momentum, and predictor variables such as different macro variables (e.g. yield spread, inflation, term structure, industrial production, etc.) and looks at how learning about these variables affects the predictability of returns. Uncertainty in this paper is incorporated using a time-varying parameter model. Returns on style portfolios such as value and size appear to be related to inflation and other macro variables.

Optimal Portfolio Rule

Optimal Portfolio Rule
Author: Hyunjong Jin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 58
Release: 2012
Genre:
ISBN:

The classical mean-variance model, proposed by Harry Markowitz in 1952, has been one of the most powerful tools in the field of portfolio optimization. In this model, parameters are estimated by their sample counterparts. However, this leads to estimation risk, which the model completely ignores. In addition, the mean-variance model fails to incorporate behavioral aspects of investment decisions. To remedy the problem, the notion of ambiguity aversion has been addressed by several papers where investors acknowledge uncertainty in the estimation of mean returns. We extend the idea to the variances and correlation coefficient of the portfolio, and study their impact. The performance of the portfolio is measured in terms of its Sharpe ratio. We consider different cases where one parameter is assumed to be perfectly estimated by the sample counterpart whereas the other parameters introduce ambiguity, and vice versa, and investigate which parameter has what impact on the performance of the portfolio.

Portfolio Selection with Higher Moments

Portfolio Selection with Higher Moments
Author: Campbell R. Harvey
Publisher:
Total Pages: 50
Release: 2010
Genre:
ISBN:

We propose a method for optimal portfolio selection using a Bayesian decision theoretic framework that addresses two major shortcomings of the Markowitz approach: the ability to handle higher moments and estimation error. We employ the skew normal distribution which has many attractive features for modeling multivariate returns. Our results suggest that it is important to incorporate higher order moments in portfolio selection. Further, our comparison to other methods where parameter uncertainty is either ignored or accommodated in an ad hoc way, shows that our approach leads to higher expected utility than the resampling methods that are common in the practice of finance.