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Riskless Asset (riskless + asset)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	80%

Selected Abstracts

A Quantitative Theory of Unsecured Consumer Credit with Risk of Default

ECONOMETRICA, Issue 6 2007
Satyajit Chatterjee
We study, theoretically and quantitatively, the general equilibrium of an economy in which households smooth consumption by means of both a riskless asset and unsecured loans with the option to default. The default option resembles a bankruptcy filing under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. Competitive financial intermediaries offer a menu of loan sizes and interest rates wherein each loan makes zero profits. We prove the existence of a steady-state equilibrium and characterize the circumstances under which a household defaults on its loans. We show that our model accounts for the main statistics regarding bankruptcy and unsecured credit while matching key macroeconomic aggregates, and the earnings and wealth distributions. We use this model to address the implications of a recent policy change that introduces a form of "means testing" for households contemplating a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. We find that this policy change yields large welfare gains. [source]

MUTUAL FUND PORTFOLIO CHOICE IN THE PRESENCE OF DYNAMIC FLOWS

MATHEMATICAL FINANCE, Issue 2 2010
Julien Hugonnier
We analyze the implications of dynamic flows on a mutual fund's portfolio decisions. In our model, myopic investors dynamically allocate capital between a riskless asset and an actively managed fund which charges fraction-of-fund fees. The presence of dynamic flows induces "flow hedging" portfolio distortions on the part of the fund, even though investors are myopic. Our model predicts a positive relationship between a fund's proportional fee rate and its volatility. This is a consequence of higher-fee funds holding more extreme equity positions. Although both the fund portfolio and investors' trading strategies depend on the proportional fee rate, the equilibrium value functions do not. Finally, we show that our results hold even if investors are allowed to directly trade some of the risky securities. [source]

PORTFOLIO OPTIMIZATION WITH DOWNSIDE CONSTRAINTS

MATHEMATICAL FINANCE, Issue 2 2006
Peter Lakner
We consider the portfolio optimization problem for an investor whose consumption rate process and terminal wealth are subject to downside constraints. In the standard financial market model that consists of d risky assets and one riskless asset, we assume that the riskless asset earns a constant instantaneous rate of interest, r > 0, and that the risky assets are geometric Brownian motions. The optimal portfolio policy for a wide scale of utility functions is derived explicitly. The gradient operator and the Clark,Ocone formula in Malliavin calculus are used in the derivation of this policy. We show how Malliavin calculus approach can help us get around certain difficulties that arise in using the classical "delta hedging" approach. [source]

High-Water Marks: High Risk Appetites?

THE JOURNAL OF FINANCE, Issue 1 2009
Convex Compensation, Long Horizons, Portfolio Choice
ABSTRACT We study the portfolio choice of hedge fund managers who are compensated by high-water mark contracts. We find that even risk-neutral managers do not place unbounded weights on risky assets, despite option-like contracts. Instead, they place a constant fraction of funds in a mean-variance efficient portfolio and the rest in the riskless asset, acting as would constant relative risk aversion (CRRA) investors. This result is a direct consequence of the in(de)finite horizon of the contract. We show that the risk-seeking incentives of option-like contracts rely on combining finite horizons and convex compensation schemes rather than on convexity alone. [source]

An optimal investment and consumption model with stochastic returns

APPLIED STOCHASTIC MODELS IN BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY, Issue 1 2009
Xikui Wang
Abstract We consider a financial market consisting of a risky asset and a riskless one, with a constant or random investment horizon. The interest rate from the riskless asset is constant, but the relative return rate from the risky asset is stochastic with an unknown parameter in its distribution. Following the Bayesian approach, the optimal investment and consumption problem is formulated as a Markov decision process. We incorporate the concept of risk aversion into the model and characterize the optimal strategies for both the power and logarithmic utility functions with a constant relative risk aversion (CRRA). Numerical examples are provided that support the intuition that a higher proportion of investment should be allocated to the risky asset if the mean return rate on the risky asset is higher or the risky asset return rate is less volatile. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]