We combine the dynamic dividend-discount model with an accounting-based vector autoregression framework that allows for a decomposition of EU banks' stock returns to cash-flow and expected return news components. The main findings are that while the bulk of the variability of EU banks' stock...

This research addresses whether geographic diversification provides benefits over industry diversification. In the absence of constraints, no empirical evidence is found to support the argument that country diversification is superior. With short-selling constraints, however, the geographic...

We consider the problem of portfolio selection within the classical Markowitz meanvariance optimizing framework, which has served as the basis for modern portfolio theory for more than 50 years. Efforts to translate this theoretical foundation into a viable portfolio construction algorithm have...

I investigate the effect of wealth on consumption in a new dataset with financial and housing wealth from 16 countries. The baseline estimation method based on the sluggishness of consumption growth implies that the eventual (long-run) marginal propensity to consume out of total wealth is 5...

This paper presents a simple new method for measuring `wealth effects' on aggregate consumption. The method exploits the stickiness of consumption growth (sometimes interpreted as reflecting consumption `habits') to distinguish between immediate and eventual wealth effects. In U.S. data, we...

Using a new nationally representative survey of financial capability and experience in the UK and Ireland, I investigate the key factors that cause individuals to experience financial distress. In this context, a key area that I focus on is whether individuals’ behavioural traits, such as...

We portray the valuation of retirement savings in terms of a mental time travel journey in which a proposed contribution to a pension plan is projected forward to the plan member's retirement date and this projected value is then discounted back to today, thereby giving a present or personal...

In asset management, the portfolio leverage affects performance, and can be subject to constraints and operational limitations. Due to the possible leverage aversion of the investors, the comparison between portfolio performances can be incomplete or misleading. We propose a procedure to...

This paper examines the relationship between overconfidence and losses from under-diversification among Dutch investors. We find that a lack of proper portfolio diversification is positively associated with overconfidence. Part of this relationship is mediated through the lower propensity of...

We propose a novel multi-period trading model that allows portfolio managers to perform optimal portfolio allocation while incorporating their interpretable investment views. This model’s significant advantage is its intuitive and reactive design that incorporates the latest asset return...