Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Videos
  • Submit an article
  • More
    • About JPM
    • Awards
    • Editorial Board
    • Published Ahead of Print (PAP)
  • IPR Logo
  • About Us
  • Journals
  • Publish
  • Advertise
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • More
    • Awards
    • Article Licensing
    • Academic Use
  • Follow IIJ on LinkedIn
  • Follow IIJ on Twitter

User menu

  • Sample our Content
  • Request a Demo
  • Log in

Search

  • ADVANCED SEARCH: Discover more content by journal, author or time frame
The Journal of Portfolio Management
  • IPR Logo
  • About Us
  • Journals
  • Publish
  • Advertise
  • Videos
  • Webinars
  • More
    • Awards
    • Article Licensing
    • Academic Use
  • Sample our Content
  • Request a Demo
  • Log in
The Journal of Portfolio Management

The Journal of Portfolio Management

ADVANCED SEARCH: Discover more content by journal, author or time frame

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Past Issues
  • Videos
  • Submit an article
  • More
    • About JPM
    • Awards
    • Editorial Board
    • Published Ahead of Print (PAP)
  • Follow IIJ on LinkedIn
  • Follow IIJ on Twitter
Article

Seeking Alpha? It’s a Bad Guideline for Portfolio Optimization

Moshe Levy and Richard Roll
The Journal of Portfolio Management Special QES Issue 2016, 42 (5) 107-112; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3905/jpm.2016.42.5.107
Moshe Levy
is an associate professor of finance in the Jerusalem School of Business at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: mslm@huji.ac.il
Richard Roll
is the Linde Institute Professor of Finance at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: rroll@caltech.edu
  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF (Subscribers Only)
Loading

Click to login and read the full article.

Don’t have access? Click here to request a demo 
Alternatively, Call a member of the team to discuss membership options
US and Overseas: +1 646-931-9045
EMEA: +44 0207 139 1600

Abstract

Alpha is the most popular measure for evaluating the performance of both individual assets and funds. The alpha of an asset with respect to a given benchmark portfolio measures the change in the portfolio’s Sharpe ratio driven by a marginal increase in the asset’s portfolio weight. Thus, alpha indicates which assets should be marginally over- or underweighted relative to the benchmark weights, and by how much. In this article, the authors show that alpha is actually an ineffective guideline for portfolio optimization. The reason is that alpha only measures the effects of infinitesimal changes in the portfolio weights. For small but finite changes, which are those relevant to investors, the optimal weight adjustments are almost unrelated to the alphas. In fact, in many cases the optimal adjustment is in the opposite direction of alpha—it may be optimal to reduce the weight of an asset with a positive alpha, and vice versa. Rather than employing alphas as a guideline, the authors argue that investors can do much better by using direct optimization with the desired constraint on the distance from the benchmark portfolio weights.

  • © 2016 Pageant Media Ltd
View Full Text

Don’t have access? Click here to request a demo

Alternatively, Call a member of the team to discuss membership options

US and Overseas: +1 646-931-9045

UK: 0207 139 1600

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?
PreviousNext
Back to top

Explore our content to discover more relevant research

  • By topic
  • Across journals
  • From the experts
  • Monthly highlights
  • Special collections

In this issue

The Journal of Portfolio Management: 42 (5)
The Journal of Portfolio Management
Vol. 42, Issue 5
Special QES Issue 2016
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on The Journal of Portfolio Management.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Seeking Alpha? It’s a Bad Guideline for Portfolio Optimization
(Your Name) has sent you a message from The Journal of Portfolio Management
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the The Journal of Portfolio Management web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Seeking Alpha? It’s a Bad Guideline for Portfolio Optimization
Moshe Levy, Richard Roll
The Journal of Portfolio Management Jul 2016, 42 (5) 107-112; DOI: 10.3905/jpm.2016.42.5.107

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Save To My Folders
Share
Seeking Alpha? It’s a Bad Guideline for Portfolio Optimization
Moshe Levy, Richard Roll
The Journal of Portfolio Management Jul 2016, 42 (5) 107-112; DOI: 10.3905/jpm.2016.42.5.107
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Tweet Widget Facebook Like LinkedIn logo

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
    • ANALYSIS
    • RESULTS
    • DISCUSSION
    • CONCLUSION
    • ENDNOTES
    • REFERENCES
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF (Subscribers Only)
  • PDF (Subscribers Only)

Similar Articles

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • PERSPECTIVES: Plato or Aristotle: Who Got It Right? Evidence from the Equity Markets
  • Editor’s Introduction for 2021 Special Issue on Factor Investing
  • PERSPECTIVES: Seeking Sustainability in American Public Employee Pension Systems
Show more Article
LONDON
One London Wall, London, EC2Y 5EA
United Kingdom
+44 207 139 1600
 
NEW YORK
41 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10010
USA
+1 646 931 9045
pm-research@pageantmedia.com
 

Stay Connected

  • Follow IIJ on LinkedIn
  • Follow IIJ on Twitter

MORE FROM PMR

  • News
  • Awards
  • Investment Guides
  • Videos
  • About PMR

INFORMATION FOR

  • Academics
  • Agents
  • Authors
  • Content Usage Terms

GET INVOLVED

  • Advertise
  • Publish
  • Article Licensing
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe Now
  • Sign In
  • Update your profile
  • Give us your feedback

© 2021 Pageant Media Ltd | All Rights Reserved | ISSN: 0095-4918 | E-ISSN: 2168-8656

  • Site Map
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies