In arbitrage-free but incomplete markets, the equivalent martingale measure Q for pricing traded assets is not uniquely determined. A possible approach when it comes to choosing a particular pricing measure is to consider the one that is "closest" to the physical probability measure P, where...

We analyze an optimal consumption and investment problem for a representative agent who may have different preferences for consumption and for terminal wealth. The utility for consumption is characterized by constant relative risk aversion so consumption is always positive. In contrast, the...

Survival bonds are financial instruments with a payoff that depends on human mortality rates. In markets that contain such bonds, agents optimizing expected utility of consumption and terminal wealth can mitigate their longevity risk. To examine how this influences optimal portfolio strategies...

Recent surveys indicate that many pension-fund participants aim for higher retirement income security. We investigate the added value of including derivatives in the portfolio of pension funds to achieve this goal. To do so, we define preferences that incorporate specific features of pension...

This paper focuses on the exposure of common stocks to inflation risk and assesses the impact of this exposure on portfolio choice. We show that the relation between real stock returns and inflation rates, as well as the parameter uncertainty involved with this relation, has substantial...

This paper discusses the implications of mean reversion in stock prices for long-term investors such as pension funds. We start with a general definition of a mean-reverting price process and explain how mean reversion in stock prices is related to mean reversion in stock returns. Subsequently,...

We study the multi-period asset allocation problem for emerging-market investors whose asset menu consists of stocks, bonds and bills. We consider two types of investors: domestic investors who invest in emerging-market assets only (with returns in local currency) and international investors who...