INVESTMENTS:

Analysis and Management

Second Canadian Edition

W. Sean Cleary
Charles P. Jones
 Chapter 8

Portfolio Selection
 Learning Objectives

• State three steps involved in building a portfolio.

• Apply the Markowitz efficient portfolio selection
model.
• Describe the effect of risk-free borrowing and
lending on the efficient frontier.
• Separate total risk into systematic and non-
systematic risk.
 Portfolio Selection

• Diversification is key to optimal risk

management
• Analysis required because of the infinite
number of portfolios of risky assets
• How should investors select the best risky
portfolio?
• How could riskless assets be used?
 Building a Portfolio

• Step 1: Use the Markowitz portfolio selection

model to identify optimal combinations
• Step 2: Consider borrowing and lending
possibilities
• Step 3: Choose the final portfolio based on
your preferences for return relative to risk
 Portfolio Theory

• Optimal diversification takes into account all

available information
• Assumptions in portfolio theory
 A single investment period (one year)
 Liquid position (no transaction costs)
 Preferences based only on a portfolio’s
expected return and risk
 An Efficient Portfolio

• Smallest portfolio risk for a given level of

expected return
• Largest expected return for a given level of
portfolio risk
• From the set of all possible portfolios
 Only locate and analyze the subset known as
the efficient set
• Lowest risk for given level of return
 An Efficient Portfolio

• All other portfolios in attainable set are

dominated by efficient set
• Global minimum variance portfolio
 Smallest risk of the efficient set of portfolios
• Efficient set
 Segment of the minimum variance frontier
above the global minimum variance portfolio
 Efficient Portfolios

• Efficient frontier or
Efficient set
B (curved line from A
x to B)
E(R) A • Global minimum
variance portfolio
y (represented by
C
Risk =  point A)
 Selecting Optimal Asset Classes

• Another way to use the Markowitz model is

with asset classes
 Allocation of portfolio assets to broad asset
categories
• Asset class rather than individual security
decisions most important for investors
 Different asset classes offers various returns
and levels of risk
• Correlation coefficients may be quite low
 Optimal Risky Portfolios

Investor Utility Function

E (R)

Efficient Frontier
*


Borrowing and Lending Possibilities

• Risk-free assets
 Certain-to-be-earned expected return, zero
variance
 No correlation with risky assets
 Usually proxied by a Treasury Bill
• Amount to be received at maturity is free of
default risk, known with certainty
• Adding a risk-free asset extends and changes
the efficient frontier
 Risk-Free Lending

• Riskless assets can be

L
combined with any
B portfolio in the efficient
E(R) T set AB
Z X  Z implies lending
RF • Set of portfolios on line
A RF to T dominates all
portfolios below it
Risk
 Borrowing Possibilities

• Investor no longer restricted to own wealth

• Interest paid on borrowed money
 Higher returns sought to cover expense
 Assume borrowing at RF
• Risk will increase as the amount of borrowing
increases
 Financial leverage
 The New Efficient Set

• Risk-free investing and borrowing creates a

new set of expected return-risk possibilities
• Addition of risk-free asset results in
 A change in the efficient set from an arc to a
straight line tangent to the feasible set without
the riskless asset
 Chosen portfolio depends on investor’s risk-
return preferences
 Portfolio Choice

• The more conservative the investor, the more

that is placed in risk-free lending and the less
in borrowing
• The more aggressive the investor, the less
that is placed in risk-free lending and the
more in borrowing
 Most aggressive investors would use leverage
to invest more in portfolio T
Implications of Portfolio Selection

• Investors should focus on risk that cannot be

managed by diversification
• Total risk =
 Systematic (non-diversifiable) risk
+
 Non-systematic (diversifiable) risk
 Systematic risk

• Systematic risk
 Variability in a security’s total returns directly
associated with economy-wide events
 Common to virtually all securities
 Non-Systematic Risk

• Non-Systematic Risk
 Variability of a security’s total return not
related to general market variability
 Diversification decreases this risk
• The relevant risk of an individual stock is its
contribution to the riskiness of a well-
diversified portfolio
 Portfolios rather than individual assets most
important
 Portfolio Risk and Diversification

p % Total risk
35
Diversifiable
Risk
20
Systematic Risk
0
10 20 30 40 ...... 100+
Number of securities in portfolio
 Copyright

Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. All rights
reserved. Reproduction or translation of this work beyond that
permitted by Access Copyright (The Canadian Copyright
Licensing Agency) is unlawful. Requests for further information
should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley
& Sons Canada, Ltd. The purchaser may make back-up copies
for his or her own use only and not for distribution or resale. The
author and the publisher assume no responsibility for errors,
omissions, or damages caused by the use of these programs or
from the use of the information contained herein.