In a typical tactical asset allocation setup, managers generally make their choices with the aim of beating a benchmark portfolio. In this context, the pure Markowitz (1959) strategy does not take two aspects into account: asset returns often show changes in volatility and managers' decisions...

In a typical tactical asset allocation set up managers generally make their investment decisions by inserting private information in an optimisation mechanism used to beat a benchmark portfolio; in this context the sole approach a' la Markowitz (1959) does not use all the available information...

This paper develops a model to explain the widely used investment mandates in the institutional asset management industry based on two insights: first, giving a manager more investment flexibility weakens the link between fund performance and his effort in the designated market, and thus...