Author : Abraham Lioui
Release : 2010
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Kind : eBook
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Book Synopsis On Optimal Portfolio Choice Under Stochastic Interest Rates by : Abraham Lioui
Download or read book On Optimal Portfolio Choice Under Stochastic Interest Rates written by Abraham Lioui. This book was released on 2010. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an economy where interest rates and stock price changes follow fairly general stochastic processes, we analyse the portfolio problem of an expected utility investor. When the investment opportunity set is driven by an arbitrary number of state variables, the optimal portfolio strategy is known to contain a speculative element and Merton-Breeden hedging terms against the fluctuations of each and every state variable. While the first component is well identified and easy to work out, the implementation of the last ones is problematic as the investor must identify all the relevant state variables and estimate their distribution characteristics. Using a new decomposition of the optimal wealth, we show that the optimal strategy can be simplified to include, in addition to the speculative component, only two Merton-Breeden type hedging elements, however large is the number of state variables. The first one is associated with interest rate risk and the second one with the risk brought about by the co-movements of the spot interest rate and the market prices of risk. The implementation of the optimal strategy is thus much easier, as it involves estimating the characteristics of the yield curve and the market prices of risk only rather than those of numerous (a priori unknown) state variables. Moreover, the investor's horizon is shown explicitly to play a crucial role in the optimal strategy design, in sharp contrast with the traditional decomposition.