In estimating the inputs into the Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) portfolio optimisation problem it is usual to use equal weighted historic data. Equal weighting of the data, however, does not take account of the current state of the market. Consequently this approach is unlikely to perform well in any subsequent period as the data is still reflecting market conditions that are no longer valid. T...

This paper surveys asset allocation methods that extend the traditional approach. An important feature of the the traditional approach is that measures the risk and return tradeoff in terms of mean and variance of final wealth. However, there are also other important features that are not always made explicit in terms of investor’s wealth, information, and horizon: The investor makes a single p...

This paper analyzes the role that health status plays in household portfolio decisions using data from the first wave of the Health and Retirement Study. The results indicate that health is a significant predictor of both the probability of owning different types of financial assets and the share of financial wealth held in each asset category. Households in poor health are less likely to hold ...

Much of the macroeconomics literature dealing with wealth distribution has become abstracted from modeling housing explicitly. This paper investigates the properties of the wealth distribution and the portfolio composition regarding housing and equity holdings and their relationship to macroeconomic shocks. To this end, I construct a business cycle model in which agents differ in age, income, a...

Miller (1977) emphasized that optimal corporate financial policy depends on the tax rates facing the firm as well as the tax treatment accorded bondand stock-holders. In equilibrium, firms will issue claims that are held by the full spectrum of investors, from tax-exempt institutional investors to heavily taxed individuals. However, dealers are tax neutral institutions that can buy corporate se...

In this paper the efficiency of the electricity generation portfolio of BKW, a major Swiss utility, is analyzed. By applying mean-variance portfolio theory to the current and to possible future generation mixes, efficient frontiers are derived. The analysis based on relative changes in generation costs is complemented by an actual costs analysis. Moreover, a method that takes into account physi...

This paper constructs a model in which the currency composition of national portfolios is an essential element in facilitating capital ‡ows between countries. In a two country environment, each country chooses optimal nominal bond portfolios in face of real and nominal risk. Current account de…cits are …nanced by increases in domestic currency debt, but balanced by increases in foreign currency...

Microwave power transmission (MPT) has had a long history before the more recent movement toward wireless power transmission (WPT). MPT can be applied not only to beam-type point-to-point WPT but also to an energy harvesting system fed from distributed or broadcasting radio waves. The key technology is the use of a rectenna, or rectifying antenna, to convert a microwave signal to a DC signal wi...

The risks and returns associated with different choices of electricity generation technology cannot properly be considered in isolation. The paper considers their impact on an investing company, using Mean-Variance Portfolio (MVP) theory to identify optimal generation portfolios in liberalised electricity markets characterised by fuel, CO2, and electricity price risk. The paper demonstrates the...

I examine an investor’s portfolio allocation problem across multiple risky assets in the presence of return predictability when, in addition to the predictability evidence, the investor uses conditional asset pricing models to guide him in the portfolio selection decision. I also explore how the uncertainty associated with the model dynamics affects the investor’s optimal portfolio. To analyze ...