We study the optimal design of financial structured portfolios (equity or index linked notes) within the utility with ambiguity framework. We analyze some of these products with respect to investor's attitude towards risk, including ambiguity. These financial products usually involve derivative...

In this paper we study the effect of institutional reform on the decision to hold risky assets at the extensive and the intensive margin. We therefore make use of the natural experiment of German Division and Reunification and, based on savings bank customer data from German savings banks, study...

This paper estimates the effect of competition from low-cost index funds on fees in the money management industry. A difference-in-differences analysis exploiting the staggered entry of index funds finds that while actively managed funds sold directly to retail investors reduce fees by six...

This paper undertakes the issue of portfolio insurance from the perspective of a risk-averse agent requiring his financial wealth to grow at a floored rate in excess of an equity benchmark. The suggested solution is a generalization of the CPPI approach within a two-equity asset framework. The...

We study if and how intermediary capitalization affects asset demand and prices. We introduce a model with strategic but capital-constrained intermediaries to show that lower capitalization or weaker capital requirements lead intermediaries to demand more of the asset at higher prices because it...

This paper analyzes the relevance of a set of some performance measures for optimal portfolios including hedge funds. Four criteria are considered: the Sharpe Ratio, the Returns on VaR and on CVaR, and the Omega performance measure. The results are illustrated by an allocation on several...