In this thesis we deal with different topics in financial mathematics, that are all related to market imperfections and to the fundamental technique of utility maximization. The work consists of three parts. In the first one, which is based on two papers, we consider the problem of optimal...

We present an optimal investment theorem for a currency exchange model with random and possibly discontinuous proportional transaction costs. The investor’s preferences are represented by a smooth, multivariate utility function, allowing for simultaneous consumption of any prescribed selection...

In this paper, we study the optimal portfolio selection problem of weakly informed traders in the sense of Baudoin \cite{Baudoin_2002}. Instead of considering only expected utility maximizers, we also take into consideration different preference paradigms. In particular, we analyze a...

We prove a general version of the super-replication theorem, which applies to Kabanov’s model of foreign exchange markets under proportional transaction costs. The market is described by a matrix-valued càdlàg bid-ask process $$(\Pi_t)_{t\in [0,T]}$$ evolving in continuous time. We propose a...

We present an optimal investment theorem for a currency exchange model with random and possibly discontinuous proportional transaction costs. The investor’s preferences are represented by a multivariate utility function, allowing for simultaneous consumption of any prescribed selection of the...

We study the economic sources of stock-bond return comovements and its time variation using a dynamic factor model. We identify the economic factors employing a semi-structural regime-switching model for state variables such as interest rates, inflation, the output gap, and cash flow growth. We...

The Fed model postulates that the dividend or earnings yield on stocks should equal the yield on nominal Treasury bonds, or at least that the two should be highly correlated. In US data, there is indeed a strikingly high time series correlation between the yield on nominal bonds and the dividend...

We examine international stock return comovements using country-industry and country-style portfolios. We first establish that parsimonious risk-based factor models capture the covariance structure of the data better than the popular Heston-Rouwenhorst (1994) model. We then establish the...

International equity returns are characterized by episodes of high volatility and unusually high correlations coinciding with bear markets. We develop models of asset returns that match these patterns and use them in asset allocation. First, the presence of regimes with different correlations...

We examine international stock return comovements using country-industry and country-style portfolios. We first establish that parsimonious risk-based factor models capture the covariance structure of the data better than the popular Heston-Rouwenhorst (1994) model. We then establish the...