Orthogonal Portfolios

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis
Year: 1980
Volume: 15
Issue: 5
Pages: 1005-1023

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

There is a false, but widely-held belief about orthogonal (“zero-beta”) portfolios: for a given market index, all zero-beta portfolios have the same expected return and the minimal-variance, zero-beta portfolio is unique. This is true only when the index is mean/variance efficient. Every nonefficient index possesses zero-beta portfolios at all levels of expected return. For a given index, minimal-variance zero-beta portfolios corresponding to different expected returns lie along an “orthogonal frontier” in the mean/variance space. The frontier has some unusual properties which turn out to be relevant for empirical work on asset pricing. It is functionally related to deviations about the “securities market line.”

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:cup:jfinqa:v:15:y:1980:i:05:p:1005-1023_01
Journal Field
Finance
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29