Title
Evaluating Portfolio Policies: A Duality Approach
Abstract
The performance of a given portfolio policy can in principle be evaluated by comparing its expected utility with that of the optimal policy. Unfortunately, the optimal policy is usually not computable, in which case a direct comparison is impossible. In this paper, we solve this problem by using the given portfolio policy to construct an upper bound on the unknown maximum expected utility. This construction is based on a dual formulation of the portfolio optimization problem. When the upper bound is close to the expected utility achieved by the given portfolio policy, the potential utility loss of this policy is guaranteed to be small. Our algorithm can be used to evaluate portfolio policies in models with incomplete markets and position constraints. We illustrate our methodology by analyzing the static and myopic policies in markets with return predictability and constraints on short sales and borrowing.
Year
DOI
Venue
2006
10.1287/opre.1060.0279
Ssrn Electronic Journal
Keywords
DocType
Volume
duality approach,myopic policy,incomplete market,potential utility loss,direct comparison,portfolio policy,portfolio policies,dual formulation,position constraint,portfolio optimization problem,optimal policy,expected utility
Journal
54
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
3
0030-364X
11
PageRank 
References 
Authors
1.21
3
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Martin Haugh116520.21
Leonid Kogan28611.82
Jiang Wang3111.21