Static Portfolio Choice under Cumulative Prospect Theory

Citation:

Bernard, C. , & Ghossoub, M. . (2010). Static Portfolio Choice under Cumulative Prospect Theory. Mathematics and Financial Economics, 2(4), 277-306. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11579-009-0021-2

Abstract:

We derive the optimal portfolio choice for an investor who behaves according to Cumulative Prospect Theory (CPT). The study is done in a one-period economy with one risk-free asset and one risky asset, and the reference point corresponds to the terminal wealth arising when the entire initial wealth is invested into the risk-free asset. When it exists, the optimal holding is a function of a generalized Omega measure of the distribution of the excess return on the risky asset over the risk-free rate. It conceptually resembles Merton’s optimal holding for a CRRA expected-utility maximizer. We derive some properties of the optimal holding and illustrate our results using a simple example where the excess return has a skew-normal distribution. In particular, we show how a CPT investor is highly sensitive to the skewness of the excess return on the risky asset. In the model we adopt, with a piecewise-power value function with different shape parameters, loss aversion might be violated for reasons that are now well-understood in the literature. Nevertheless, we argue that this violation is acceptable.

Notes:

Publisher's Version

Last updated on 07/16/2017