On Markowitz Geometry

On Inverse Markowitz' Eventological Problem

Sparse and stable Markowitz portfolios.

We consider the problem of portfolio selection within the classical Markowitz mean-variance framework, reformulated as a constrained least-squares regression problem. We propose to add to the objective function a penalty proportional to the sum of the absolute values of the portfolio weights. This penalty regularizes (stabilizes) the optimization problem, encourages sparse portfolios (i.e., por...

Prospect and Markowitz Stochastic Dominance

Levy and Levy (2002, 2004) develop the Prospect and Markowitz stochastic dominance theory with S-shaped and reverse S-shaped utility functions for investors. In this paper, we extend Levy and Levy’s Prospect Stochastic Dominance theory (PSD) and Markowitz Stochastic Dominance theory (MSD) to the first three orders and link the corresponding S-shaped and reverse S-shaped utility functions to the...

On the Realized Risk of High-Dimensional Markowitz Portfolios

We study the realized risk of Markowitz portfolio computed using parameters estimated from data and generalizations to similar questions involving the out-of-sample risk in quadratic programs with linear equality constraints. We do so under the assumption that the data is generated according to an elliptical model, which allows us to study models where we have heavy-tails, tail dependence, and ...

Markowitz versus Michaud : Portfolio Optimization Strategies Reconsidered

Several attempts have been made to reduce the impact of estimation errors on the optimal portfolio composition. On the one hand, improved estimators of the necessary moments have been developed and on the other hand, heuristic methods have been generated to enhance the portfolio performance, for instance the "resampled efficiency" of Michaud (1998). We compare the out-ofsample performance of tr...