On the Inefficiency of Bang-Bang and Stop-Loss Portfolio Strategies.

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Risk and Uncertainty
Year: 1997
Volume: 14
Issue: 2
Pages: 143-54

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

We show in this article that bang-bang portfolio strategies where the investor is alternatively 100% in equity and 100% in cash are dynamically inefficient. Our proof of this is based on a simple second-order stochastic dominance (SSD) argument. It implies that this is true for any decision criterion that satisfies SSD, not necessarily expected utility. We also examine the stop-loss strategy in which the investor is 100% in equity as long as the value of the portfolio exceeds a lower limit where the investor switches to 100% in cash. Again, we show that this strategy is inefficient under second-order risk aversion. However, a slight modification of it--in which all wealth exceeding a minimum reserve is invested in equity--is shown to be an efficient dynamic portfolio strategy. This is optimal for investors with a nondifferentiable utility function. Copyright 1997 by Kluwer Academic Publishers

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:kap:jrisku:v:14:y:1997:i:2:p:143-54
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-25