Executive Summary. This article examines the portfolio allocation decision within an asset/liability framework. Here portfolio weights are chosen not just by an asset’s return and variance but also by its correlation with pension liabilities. This results in assets that are highly correlated with pension liabilities being weighted higher in the portfolio. Typical mean-variance models estimate a...

This paper makes a number of contributions to the understanding of minimum variance portfolio (MVP) risk. First, it presents several results connecting changes in MVP risk to changes in portfolio asset volatilities and correlations. Second, it explores the efficacy of three alternative methods of attributing changes in MVP risk to either changes in asset volatility or changes in asset correlati...

In this paper we will state the fundamental principles of the gauge approach to financial economics and demonstrate the ways of its application. In particular, modeling of real pricing processes will be considered for an example of S&P500 market index. Derivative pricing and portfolio theory are also briefly discussed.