Optimization in finance means turning a forecast or a preference into positions: mean-variance and its risk-parity and minimum-variance cousins, robust and distributionally-robust formulations, cardinality- and turnover-constrained programs, multi-period dynamic programming, and the stochastic-control problems that generalize all of them. Nearly every portfolio-construction and execution paper lands here.
What to check when reading. The known trap is that an optimizer amplifies estimation error: unconstrained mean-variance on noisy means is an error-maximizer. A credible paper shows how inputs are estimated and shrunk, compares against equal-weight and minimum-variance baselines that need no return forecast, reports turnover and the transaction costs it implies, and tests out of sample with the estimation window moving forward. Equality constraints and a convex solver are not the hard part; the inputs are.
We consider the problem of optimizing lifetime consumption under a habit formation model, both with and without an exogenous pension. Unlike much of the existing literature, we apply a power utility to the ratio of consumption to habit, rather than to their difference. The martingale/duality method
Copulas are widely used in financial economics as well as in other areas of applied mathematics. Yet, there is much arbitrariness in their choice. The author proposes “a natural copula” concept, which minimizes Wasserstein distance between distributions in some space, in which both these distributio
The paper investigates the robust optimized certainty equivalents and analyzes the relevant properties of them as risk measures for loss positions with distribution uncertainty. On this basis, the robust generalized quantiles are proposed and discussed. The robust expectiles with two specific penali
We consider the classical multi-asset Merton investment problem under drift uncertainty, i.e. the asset price dynamics are given by geometric Brownian motions with constant but unknown drift coefficients. The investor assumes a prior drift distribution and is able to learn by observing the asset pri
Investors always want to know about the profit and the risk that they will be get before buying some assets. Our main focus is getting the profit and the probability of getting that profit using the differential evolution algorithm for vanilla option pricing on data before and during COVID-19 pandem
In this paper we study optimal trading strategies in a financial market in which stock returns depend on a hidden Gaussian mean reverting drift process. Investors obtain information on that drift by observing stock returns. Moreover, expert opinions in the form of signals about the current state of
The estimation of repeatedly nested expectations is a challenging task that arises in many real-world systems. However, existing methods generally suffer from high computational costs when the number of nestings becomes large. Fix any non-negative integer $D$ for the total number of nestings. Standa
We propose a tractable dynamic framework for the joint determination of optimal consumption, portfolio choice, and healthcare irreversible investment. Our model is based on a Merton’s portfolio and consumption problem, where, in addition, the agent can choose the time at which undertaking a costly l
This paper studies the mean field game (MFG) problem arising from a large population competition in fund management, featuring a new type of relative performance via the benchmark tracking constraint. In the n-agent model, each agent can strategically inject capital to ensure that the total wealth o
We consider the multiple quantile hedging problem, which is a class of partial hedging problems containing as special examples the quantile hedging problem (F{“ö”}llmer & Leukert 1999) and the PnL matching problem (introduced in Bouchard & Vu 2012). In complete non-linear markets, we show that the p
Funds at large portfolio management firms may consist of many portfolio managers (PMs), each managing a portion of the fund and optimizing a distinct objective. Although the PMs determine their trades independently, the trade lists may be netted and executed by the firm. These net trades may be suff
We study the optimal liquidation of a large position on Uniswap v2 and Uniswap v3 in discrete time. The instantaneous price impact is derived from the AMM pricing rule. Transient impact is modeled to capture either exponential or approximately power-law decay, together with a permanent component. In
Following years of controversial discussions about the risks of market-based redispatch, the German transmission network operators finally installed regional redispatch markets by the end of 2024. Since water electrolysers are eligible market participants, the otherwise downwards redispatched renewa
Market participants regularly send bid and ask quotes to exchange-operated limit order books. This creates an optimization challenge where their potential profit is determined by their quoted price and how often their orders are successfully executed. The expected profit from successful execution at
This study examines the investment landscape of Pakistan as an emerging and frontier market, focusing on implications for international investors, particularly those in the United States, through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to Pakistan. The analysis encompasses 30 ETFs with varying de
This paper investigates robust stochastic differential games among insurers under model uncertainty and stochastic volatility. The surplus processes of ambiguity-averse insurers (AAIs) are characterized by drifted Brownian motion with both common and idiosyncratic insurance risks. To mitigate these
We are considering the problem of optimal portfolio delegation between an investor and a portfolio manager under a random default time. We focus on a novel variation of the Principal-Agent problem adapted to this framework. We address the challenge of an uncertain investment horizon caused by an exo
We investigate model risk distributionally robust sensitivities for functionals on the Wasserstein space when the underlying model is constrained to the martingale class and/or is subject to constraints on the first marginal law. Our results extend the findings of Bartl, Drapeau, Obloj & Wiesel \ci
An exponentially weighted moving model (EWMM) for a vector time series fits a new data model each time period, based on an exponentially fading loss function on past observed data. The well known and widely used exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) is a special case that estimates the mean u
The main objective of this paper is to develop a martingale-type solution to optimal consumption–investment choice problems ([Merton, 1969] and [Merton, 1971]) under time-varying incomplete preferences driven by externalities such as patience, socialization effects, and market volatility. The marke
We study and solve the worst-case optimal portfolio problem as pioneered by Korn and Wilmott (2002) of an investor with logarithmic preferences facing the possibility of a market crash with stochastic market coefficients by enhancing the martingale approach developed by Seifried in 2010. With the he
We formulate and solve stochastic control problems that model the core yield-generating strategy of the Ethena protocol, a decentralized finance (DeFi) stablecoin that earns yield by combining a long position in staked Ethereum (stETH) with an equal-sized short position in ETH perpetual futures. The
We study OTC bond market making on a size ladder with quadratic inventory penalty and a running target on the dealer’s size-weighted hit ratio within a stochastic optimal control approach. We demonstrate that the corresponding reduced Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation remains separable by duali
We consider a reflected process in the positive orthant driven by an exogenous jump process. For a given input process, we show that there exists a unique minimal strong solution to the given particle system up until a certain maximal stopping time, which is stated explicitly in terms of the dual fo
This research proposes an enhancement to the innovative portfolio optimization approach using the G-Learning algorithm, combined with parametric optimization via the GIRL algorithm (G-learning approach to the setting of Inverse Reinforcement Learning) as presented by. The goal is to maximize portfol
Diversification is a cornerstone of robust portfolio construction, yet its application remains fraught with challenges due to model uncertainty and estimation errors. Practitioners often rely on sophisticated, proprietary heuristics to navigate these issues. Among recent advancements, Agnostic Risk
We use a neural network to identify the optimal solution to a family of optimal investment problems, where the parameters determining an investor’s risk and consumption preferences are given as inputs to the neural network in addition to economic variables. This is used to develop a practical tool t
In this article, we study optimal investment and consumption in an incomplete stochastic factor model for a power utility investor on the infinite horizon. When the state space of the stochastic factor is finite, we give a complete characterisation of the well-posedness of the problem, and provide a
This paper is concerned with the maximum principle and dynamic programming principle for mean-variance portfolio selection of jump diffusions and their relationship. First, the optimal portfolio and efficient frontier of the problem are obtained using both methods. Furthermore, the relationship betw
This paper proposes a novel class of generalized Expected-Shortfall (ES) norms constructed via distortion risk measures, establishing a unified analytical framework for risk quantification. The proposed norms extend conventional ES methodology by incorporating flexible distortion functions. Specific
The increasing vulnerability of power systems has heightened the need for operating reserves to manage contingencies such as generator outages, line failures, and sudden load variations. Unlike energy costs, driven by consumer demand, operating reserve costs arise from addressing the most critical c
A critical factor in adopting machine learning for time-sensitive financial tasks is computational speed, including model training and inference. This paper demonstrates that a broad class of such problems, especially those previously addressed using deep neural networks, can be efficiently solved u
We present an architecture for managing Collective Defined Contribution (CDC) schemes. The current approach to UK CDC can be described as shared-indexation, where the nominal benefit of every member in a scheme receives the same level of indexation each year. The design of such schemes rely on the u
We propose and implement modern computational methods to enhance catastrophe excess-of-loss reinsurance contracts in practice. The underlying optimization problem involves attachment points, limits, and reinstatement clauses, and the objective is to maximize the expected profit while considering ris
Lending within decentralized finance (DeFi) has facilitated over $100 billion of loans since 2020. A long-standing inefficiency in DeFi lending protocols such as Aave is the use of static pricing mechanisms for loans. These mechanisms have been shown to maximize neither welfare nor revenue for part
We consider the multi-period portfolio optimization problem with a single asset that can be held long or short. Due to the presence of transaction costs, maximizing the immediate reward at each period may prove detrimental, as frequent trading results in consistent negative cash outflows. To simulat
We give an abstract perspective on quadratic programming with an eye toward long portfolio theory geared toward explaining sparsity via maximum principles. Specifically, in optimal allocation problems, we see that support of an optimal distribution lies in a variety intersect a kind of distinguished
In the literature, insurance and reinsurance pricing is typically determined by a premium principle, characterized by a risk measure that reflects the policy seller’s risk attitude. Building on the work of Meyers (1980) and Chen et al. (2016), we propose a new performance-based variable premium sche
Financial AI empowers sophisticated approaches to financial market forecasting, portfolio optimization, and automated trading. This survey provides a systematic analysis of these developments across three primary dimensions: predictive models that capture complex market dynamics, decision-making fra
In the rapidly evolving domain of large-scale retail data systems, envisioning and simulating future consumer transactions has become a crucial area of interest. It offers significant potential to fortify demand forecasting and fine-tune inventory management. This paper presents an innovative applic
This paper concerns a continuous time mean-variance (MV) portfolio selection problem in a jump-diffusion financial model with no-shorting trading constraint. The problem is reduced to two subproblems: solving a stochastic linear-quadratic (LQ) control problem under control constraint, and finding a
Combining model-based and model-free reinforcement learning approaches, this paper proposes and analyzes an $ε$-policy gradient algorithm for the online pricing learning task. The algorithm extends $ε$-greedy algorithm by replacing greedy exploitation with gradient descent step and facilitates learn
This paper studies a risk-sensitive decision-making problem under uncertainty. It considers a decision-making process that unfolds over a fixed number of stages, in which a decision-maker chooses among multiple alternatives, some of which are deterministic and others are stochastic. The decision-mak
In this note we consider the maximization of the expected terminal wealth for the setup of quadratic transaction costs. First, we provide a very simple probabilistic solution to the problem. Although the problem was largely studied, as far as we know up to date this simple and probabilistic form of
The Merton investment-consumption problem is fundamental, both in the field of finance, and in stochastic control. An important extension of the problem adds transaction costs, which is highly relevant from a financial perspective but also challenging from a control perspective because the solution
Once there is a decision of rebalancing or updating a portfolio of funds, the process of changing the current portfolio to the target one, involves a set of transactions that are susceptible of being optimized. This is particularly relevant when managers have to handle the implications of different
In this paper, we study the Black-Litterman (BL) asset allocation model (Black and Litterman, 1990) under the hidden truncation skew-normal distribution (Arnold and Beaver, 2000). In particular, when returns are assumed to follow this skew normal distribution, we show that the posterior returns, aft
Designing an optimum portfolio for allocating suitable weights to its constituent assets so that the return and risk associated with the portfolio are optimized is a computationally hard problem. The seminal work of Markowitz that attempted to solve the problem by estimating the future returns of th
MOPO-LSI is an open-source Multi-Objective Portfolio Optimization Library for Sustainable Investments. This document provides a user guide for MOPO-LSI version 1.0, including problem setup, workflow and the hyper-parameters in configurations.
We define and develop an approach for risk budgeting allocation - a risk diversification portfolio strategy - where risk is measured using a dynamic time-consistent risk measure. For this, we introduce a notion of dynamic risk contributions that generalise the classical Euler contributions and which
In optimal covariance cleaning theory, minimizing the Frobenius norm between the true population covariance matrix and a rotational invariant estimator is a key step. This estimator can be obtained asymptotically for large covariance matrices, without knowledge of the true covariance matrix. In this
We consider the multi-objective mean-variance-skewness-kurtosis (MVSK) problem in portfolio selection, with and without shorting and leverage. Additionally, we define a sparse variant of MVSK where feasible portfolios have supports contained in a chosen class of sets. To find the MVSK problem’s Pare
The diversification quotient (DQ) is recently introduced for quantifying the degree of diversification of a stochastic portfolio model. It has an axiomatic foundation and can be defined through a parametric class of risk measures. Since the Value-at-Risk (VaR) and the Expected Shortfall (ES) are the
We study a dynamic stochastic control problem subject to Knightian uncertainty with multi-objective (vector-valued) criteria. Assuming the preferences across expected multi-loss vectors are represented by a given, yet general, preorder, we address the model uncertainty by adopting a robust or minima
We study the problem of optimal portfolio selection under stochastic volatility within a continuous time reinforcement learning framework with portfolio constraints. Exploration is modeled through entropy-regularized relaxed controls, where the investor selects probability distributions over admissi
This paper introduces the Lambda extension of the Rényi entropic value-at-risk ($Λ$-EVaR), a novel family of risk measures that unifies the flexible confidence level structure of the $Λ$-framework with the higher-moment sensitivity of EVaR. We define $Λ$-EVaR, establish its foundational properties i
We study the long-only minimum variance (LOMV) portfolio under a one-factor covariance model with asset betas of arbitrary sign. We provide an explicit solution in terms of the set of active (positive weight) assets, and provide an explicit and computable characterization of the active set. As a cor
This paper considers an insurer with two collaborating business lines that faces three critical decisions: (1) dividend payout, (2) reinsurance coverage, and (3) capital injection between the lines, in the presence of model uncertainty. The insurer considers the reference model to be an approximatio
In this paper, we study an intertemporal utility maximization problem in which an investor chooses consumption and portfolio strategies in the presence of a stochastic factor and a no-borrowing constraint. In the spirit of the Kim-Omberg model, the stochastic factor represents the expected excess re
This paper bridges reinforcement learning (RL) and risk-sensitive stochastic control by introducing a tractable exploration mechanism for policy search in risk-sensitive portfolio management, with known and unknown model parameters, that yields an endogenous relative-entropy regularization. We const
We revisit the optimal dividend problem of de Finetti by adding a variance term to the usual criterion of maximizing the expected discounted dividends paid until ruin, in a singular control framework. Investors do not like variability in their dividend distribution, and the mean-variance (MV) criter
We consider the problems of estimation and optimization of two popular convex risk measures: utility-based shortfall risk (UBSR) and Optimized Certainty Equivalent (OCE) risk. We extend these risk measures to cover possibly unbounded random variables. We cover prominent risk measures like the entrop
Data assets are data commodities that have been processed, produced, priced, and traded based on actual demand. Reasonable pricing mechanism for data assets is essential for developing the data market and realizing their value. Most existing literature approaches data asset pricing from the seller’s
This paper investigates the dynamic reinsurance design problem under the mean-variance criterion, incorporating heterogeneous beliefs between the insurer and the reinsurer, and introducing an incentive compatibility constraint to address moral hazard. The insurer’s surplus process is modeled using t
In financial markets, agents often mutually influence each other’s investment strategies and adjust their strategies to align with others. However, there is limited quantitative study of agents’ investment strategies in such scenarios. In this work, we formulate the optimal investment differential g
This paper provides the first and second order derivatives of any risk measures, including VaR and ES for continuous and discrete portfolio loss random variable variables. Also, we give asymptotic results of the first and second order conditional moments for heavy-tailed portfolio loss random variab
We find the optimal indemnity to maximize the expected utility of terminal wealth of a buyer of insurance whose preferences are modeled by an exponential utility. The insurance premium is computed by a convex functional. We obtain a necessary condition for the optimal indemnity; then, because the ca
This paper considers finitely many investors who perform mean-variance portfolio selection under relative performance criteria. That is, each investor is concerned about not only her terminal wealth, but how it compares to the average terminal wealth of all investors. At the inter-personal level, ea
We examine optimization problems in which an investor has the opportunity to trade in $d$ stocks with the goal of maximizing her worst-case cost of cumulative gains and losses. Here, worst-case refers to taking into account all possible drift and volatility processes for the stocks that fall within
This paper studies the mean-variance optimal portfolio choice of an investor pre-committed to a deterministic investment policy in continuous time in a market with mean-reversion in the risk-free rate and the equity risk-premium. In the tradition of Markowitz, optimal policies are restricted to a su
This paper studies robust time-inconsistent (TIC) linear-quadratic stochastic control problems, formulated by stochastic differential games. By a spike variation approach, we derive sufficient conditions for achieving the Nash equilibrium, which corresponds to a time-consistent (TC) robust policy, u
For many examples of couples $(μ,ν)$ of probability measures on the real line in the convex order, we observe numerically that the Hobson and Neuberger martingale coupling, which maximizes for $ρ=1$ the integral of $|y-x|^ρ$ with respect to any martingale coupling between $μ$ and $ν$, is still a max
This paper studies Merton’s problem in an extended formulation by incorporating the benchmark tracking on the wealth process. We consider a tracking formulation where the fund manager aims to maximize the trade-off between the expected utility of consumption and the expected largest shortfall of the
We study mean-risk optimal portfolio problems where risk is measured by Recovery Average Value at Risk, a prominent example in the class of recovery risk measures. We establish existence results in the situation where the joint distribution of portfolio assets is known as well as in the situation wh
Financial experts and analysts seek to predict the variability of financial markets. In particular, the correct prediction of this variability ensures investors successful investments. However, there has been a big trend in finance in the last years, which are the ESG criteria. Concretely, ESG (Econ
We address the problem of sharing risk among agents with preferences modelled by a general class of comonotonic additive and law-based functionals that need not be either monotone or convex. Such functionals are called distortion riskmetrics, which include many statistical measures of risk and varia
In most cases, insurance contracts are linked to the financial markets, such as through interest rates or equity-linked insurance products. To motivate an evaluation rule in these hybrid markets, Artzner et al. (2022) introduced the notion of insurance-finance arbitrage. In this paper we extend thei
We represent (weighted-)selection-elliptical distributions as an affine combination of the $q$ selection variables plus an elliptical term whose direction alone is independent. This form suffices for $q+2$ fund separation via first-order stochastic dominance, inter alia relaxing Simaan’s (1993) thre
We consider the Heston model with perfect negative spot–variance correlation and its one-dimensional local-volatility projection. Let $I_T^{\mathrm H}$ and $I_T^{\mathrm{LV}}$ denote their respective integrated variances over $[0,T]$. We establish the inequality [ \mathbb{E}\bigl[(I_T^{\mathrm H}-
Robust portfolio rules that reconstruct confidence sets after learning need not preserve the evaluator obtained by prior-by-prior Bayesian transport. In the Gaussian model, this discrepancy is summarized by natural-coordinate displacement: inherited transport preserves it whereas fresh reconstructio
We extend AMM trade functions to negative inputs via the \textit{concave continuation}, derived from the invariance of the local conservation law under allocation direction flips. This unifies routing and arbitrage into a single problem. We extend the one-hop transfer algorithm proposed in \cite{jia
Auto-deleveraging (ADL) mechanisms are a critical yet understudied component of risk management on cryptocurrency futures exchanges. When available margin and other loss-absorbing resources are insufficient to cover losses following large price moves, exchanges reduce positions and socialize losses
Given a reference risk measure, the risk budgeting is the portfolio where each asset contributes a predetermined amount to the total risk. We propose a novel approach, alternative to the ones proposed in the literature, for the calculation of the risk budgeting portfolio. This different perspective
We study the problem of asset liquidation in financial systems. During financial crises, asset liquidation is often inevitable but can lead to substantial losses if a significant amount of illiquid assets are sold simultaneously at depressed prices – a phenomenon known as price impact. To tackle th
Liquidation of collateral are the primary safeguard for solvency of lending protocols in decentralized finance. However, the mechanics of liquidations expose these protocols to predatory price manipulations and other forms of Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). In this paper, we characterize the optima
We introduce Entropy-Guided Multiplicative Updates (EGMU), a convex optimization framework for constructing multi-factor target-exposure portfolios by minimizing Kullback-Leibler divergence from a benchmark under linear factor constraints. We establish feasibility and uniqueness of strictly positive
We study a goal-based portfolio selection problem in which an investor aims to meet multiple financial goals, each with a specific deadline and target amount. Trading the stock incurs a strictly positive transaction cost. Using the stochastic Perron’s method, we show that the value function is the u
We study a continuous-time portfolio optimization problem under an explicit constraint on the Deviation Conditional Value-at-Risk (DCVaR), defined as the difference between the CVaR and the expected terminal wealth. While the mean-CVaR framework has been widely explored, its time-inconsistency compl
Deep learning offers new tools for portfolio optimization. We present an end-to-end framework that directly learns portfolio weights by combining Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks to model temporal patterns, Graph Attention Networks (GAT) to capture evolving inter-stock relationships, and senti
In this paper, we investigate mean-variance (MV) portfolio selection problems with jumps in a regime-switching financial model. The novelty of our approach lies in allowing not only the market parameters – such as the interest rate, appreciation rate, volatility, and jump intensity – to depend on th
This paper investigates optimal withdrawal strategies and behavior of policyholders in a variable annuity (VA) contract with a guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit (GMWB) rider incorporating taxation and a ratchet mechanism for enhancing the benefit base during the life of the contract. Mathematica
In this paper, we consider $n$ agents who invest in a general financial market that is free of arbitrage and complete. The aim of each investor is to maximize her expected utility while ensuring, with a specified probability, that her terminal wealth exceeds a benchmark defined by her competitors’ p
While the Kelly portfolio has many desirable properties, including optimal long-term growth rate, the resulting investment strategy is rather aggressive. In this paper, we suggest a unified approach to the risk assessment of the Kelly criterion in both discrete and continuous time by introducing and
Financial time-series forecasting remains a challenging task due to complex temporal dependencies and market fluctuations. This study explores the potential of hybrid quantum-classical approaches to assist in financial trend prediction by leveraging quantum resources for improved feature representat
Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP) is arguably the most prevalent benchmark for trade execution as it provides an unbiased standard for comparing performance across market participants. However, achieving VWAP is inherently challenging due to its dependence on two dynamic factors, volumes and pric
This research aims to predict the price of rice in Banda Aceh after the occurrence of Covid-19. The last observation carried forward (LOCF) imputation technique has been used to solve the problem of missing values from this research data. Furthermore, the technique used to forecast rice prices in Ba
Traditional Markowitz portfolio optimization constrains daily portfolio variance to a target value, optimising returns, Sharpe or variance within this constraint. However, this approach overlooks the relationship between variance at different time scales, typically described by $σ(Δt) \propto (Δt)^{
This paper studies a type of periodic utility maximization problems for portfolio management in incomplete stochastic factor models with convex trading constraints. The portfolio performance is periodically evaluated on the relative ratio of two adjacent wealth levels over an infinite horizon, featu
Despite many attempts to make optimization-based portfolio construction in the spirit of Markowitz robust and approachable, it is far from universally adopted. Meanwhile, the collection of more heuristic divide-and-conquer approaches was revitalized by Lopez de Prado where Hierarchical Risk Parity (
In optimization problems, the quality of a candidate solution can be characterized by the optimality gap. For most stochastic optimization problems, this gap must be statistically estimated. We show that for risk-averse problems, standard estimators are optimistically biased, which compromises the s
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