Optimality conditions in portfolio analysis with general deviation measures

Optimality conditions are derived for problems of minimizing a general measure of deviation of a random variable, with special attention to situations where the random variable could be the rate of return from a portfolio of financial instruments. General measures of deviation go beyond standard deviation in satisfying axioms that do not demand symmetry between ups and downs. The optimality conditions are applied to characterize the generalized “master funds” which elsewhere have been developed in extending classical portfolio theory beyond the case of standard deviation. The consequences are worked out for deviation based on conditional value-at-risk and its variants, in particular.