Structured investment products, also known as equity- or index-linked notes, have become immensely popular among retail investors in the last ten years. In this paper, however, we show that for classical rational investors the utility gains from structured products are typically much smaller...

The paper examines a dynamic model of a financial market with endogenous asset prices determined by short run equilibrium of supply and demand. Assets pay dividends that are partially consumed and partially reinvested. The traders use fixed-mix investment strategies (portfolio rules),...

We apply the recurrent reinforcement learning method of Moody et al. (1998) in the context of the strategic asset allocation computed for sample data from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. It is found that the optimal asset allocation deviates substantially from the fixed-mix...

We consider a dynamic general equilibrium model in which we derive conditions for separating the savings decision from the asset allocation decision. It is shown that with logarithmic utility functions this separation holds for any heterogeneity of discount factors while the generalization to...

We develop an algorithm to compute asset allocations for Kahneman and Tversky's (1979) prospect theory. An application to benchmark data as in Fama and French (1992) shows that the equity premium puzzle is resolved for parameter values similar to those found in the laboratory experiments of...

We consider consistent tests for stochastic dominance efficiency at any order of a given portfolio with respect to all possible portfolios constructed from a set of assets. We propose and justify approaches based on simulation and the block bootstrap to achieve valid inference in a time series...

The paper analyzes the process of market selection of investment strategies in an incomplete asset market. The pay offs of the assets depend on random factors described in terms of a discrete-time Markov process. Market participants make dynamic investment decisions based on their observations...

This paper shows that a stock market is evolutionary stable if and only if stocks are evaluated by expected relative dividends. Any other market can be invaded by portfolio rules that will gain market wealth and hence change the valuation. In the model the valuation of assets is given by the...

In a financial market with one riskless asset and n risky assets following geometric Brownian motions, we solve the problem of a pension fund maximizing the expected CRRA utility of its terminal wealth. By considering a stochastic death time for a subscriber, we solve a unique problem for both...

This paper presents an application of evolutionary portfolio theory to stocks listed in the Swiss Market Index (SMI). We study numerically the long-run outcome of the competition of rebalancing rules for market shares in a stock market with actual dividends taken from firms listed in the SMI....