Ideally, an index fund should provide the best possible tradeoff between expected return and risk for the investor who has no research advantage. A number of practical problems arise, however, when one attempts to translate this ideal into practice. Even in the absence of a research advantage, a...

An idealized model of the investment process redefines the respective roles of security analysts and portfolio managers, quantifies such concepts as activity and aggressiveness, and explains how the individual analyst's efforts at forecasting returns translate into improved portfolio performance

Should an investor buy and hold a stock index? Hold the index plus a put on the index (portfolio insurance)? Or hold the index plus a short position in a call on the index (a covered write)? Which strategy will be the most efficient in terms of the tradeoff between risk and return? Which will...

Because dividends are taxed at a higher rate than capital gains, as stock with a higher yields should have a higher expected return than a stock whose return is expected to result mostly from price appreciation. Adding yield to the traditional Security Market Line results in a "market plane"...

A widespread concern in the investment industry is whether commonly used investment management fee arrangements encourage investment managers to act in their clients' interests. The value to managers of a one-period call performance fee is maximized by maximizing performance volatility. This is...