All HARA-utility investors with the same exponent invest in a single risky fund and the risk-free asset. In a continuous time-model stock proportions are proportional to the inverse local relative risk aversion of the investor (1/γ-rule). This paper analyses the conditions under which the...

In the continuous time-Merton-model the instantaneous stock proportions are inversely proportional to the investor’s local relative risk aversion γ. This paper analyses the conditions under which a HARA-investor can use this 1/γ-rule to approximate her optimal portfolio in a finite time...

We investigate the effects of bull and bear markets on correlations between developed and emerging country equity returns, and on the benefits of combining international markets in a portfolio. Contrary to most other studies we find that correlations fall in both bull and bear markets, although...

The extent to which consumers are aware of available financial assets depends on the incentives of asset suppliers to spread information about the instruments they issue. We propose a theoretical framework in which the amount of information disseminated and the probability of individuals...

We explore the link between portfolio home bias and consumption risk sharing among Italian regions using aggregated household level information on consumption, income and portfolio holdings. We propose to use data on equity fund ownership to proxy for regional home bias: equity funds are...

Regression-based testing techniques has long been used to quantify whether the efficient frontier of a set of assets spans the frontier of a larger collection of investments. This work derives regression-based spanning tests for the case in which the investment possibilities set contains, or is...

We discuss the current state of stock ownership among households in major European countries (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK), drawing parallels and contrasts with the US experience. We use detailed microeconomic datasets and explore the extent to which observed...

We study the time diversification issue in the context of the optimal asset allocation of an executive with decreasing relative risk aversion preferences, who is granted a package of European stock options. The asset menu for his unrestricted wealth includes both market portfolio and money account.

We extend the classic Merton (1969, 1971) problem that investigates the joint consumption-savings and portfolio-selection problem under capital risk by assuming sophisticated but time-inconsistent agents. We introduce stochastic hyperbolic preferences as in Harris and Laibson (2013) and find...

The diversifying power of inflation-linked (IL) bonds relative to traditional asset classes has changed significantly. In this paper, we study the dynamics of conditional volatilities and correlations for three asset classes, IL bonds, nominal bonds, and equities, in the USA and Europe. Using a...