We study empirical mean-variance optimization when the portfolio weights are restricted to be direct functions of underlying stock characteristics such as value and momentum. The closed-form solution to the portfolio weights estimator shows that the portfolio problem in this case reduces to a...

This paper examines competing explanations, based on risk and investor sentiment, for the cross-sectional returns in the Tunisian stock market. First, we examine the explanatory power of Fama and French (1993); and Carhart (1997) risk factors in the cross-section of stock returns. We find...

We construct a parsimonious set of equity factors by sorting stocks according to the sociodemographic characteristics of the individual investors who own them. The analysis uses administrative data on the stockholdings of Norwegian investors in 1997-2018. Consistent with financial theory, a...