Paper 4, Section II, J

Stochastic Financial Models
Part II, 2013

Let St:=(St1,St2,,Stn)TS_{t}:=\left(S_{t}^{1}, S_{t}^{2}, \ldots, S_{t}^{n}\right)^{\mathrm{T}} denote the time- tt prices of nn risky assets in which an agent may invest, t=0,1t=0,1. He may also invest his money in a bank account, which will return interest at rate r>0r>0. At time 0 , he knows S0S_{0} and rr, and he knows that S1N(μ,V)S_{1} \sim N(\mu, V). If he chooses at time 0 to invest cash value θi\theta_{i} in risky asset ii, express his wealth w1w_{1} at time 1 in terms of his initial wealth w0>0w_{0}>0, the choices θ:=(θ1,,θn)T\theta:=\left(\theta_{1}, \ldots, \theta_{n}\right)^{\mathrm{T}}, the value of S1S_{1}, and rr.

Suppose that his goal is to minimize the variance of w1w_{1} subject to the requirement that the mean E(w1)E\left(w_{1}\right) should be at least mm, where m(1+r)w0m \geqslant(1+r) w_{0} is given. What portfolio θ\theta should he choose to achieve this?

Suppose instead that his goal is to minimize E(w12)E\left(w_{1}^{2}\right) subject to the same constraint. Show that his optimal portfolio is unchanged.