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Portfolio selection with mental accounts and delegation

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  • Alexander, Gordon J.
  • Baptista, Alexandre M.

Abstract

Das et al. (2010) develop an elegant framework where an investor selects portfolios within mental accounts but ends up holding an aggregate portfolio on the mean-variance frontier. This investor directly allocates the wealth in each account among available assets. In practice, however, investors often delegate the task of allocating wealth among assets to portfolio managers who seek to beat certain benchmarks. Accordingly, we extend their framework to the case where the investor allocates the wealth in each account among portfolio managers. Our contribution is threefold. First, we provide an analytical characterization of the existence and composition of the optimal portfolios within accounts and the aggregate portfolio. Second, we present conditions under which such portfolios are not on the mean-variance frontier, and conditions under which they are. Third, we show that the aforementioned analytical characterization is also applicable within the framework of Das et al. and thus improves upon their numerical approach.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander, Gordon J. & Baptista, Alexandre M., 2011. "Portfolio selection with mental accounts and delegation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 2637-2656, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:35:y:2011:i:10:p:2637-2656
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    3. Huang, Xiaoxia & Zhao, Tianyi, 2014. "Mean-chance model for portfolio selection based on uncertain measure," Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 243-250.
    4. Jiang, Chonghui & Ma, Yongkai & An, Yunbi, 2013. "International portfolio selection with exchange rate risk: A behavioural portfolio theory perspective," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 648-659.
    5. Alexander, Gordon J. & Baptista, Alexandre M. & Yan, Shu, 2017. "Portfolio selection with mental accounts and estimation risk," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 161-186.
    6. Alexander, Gordon J. & Baptista, Alexandre M. & Yan, Shu, 2020. "Portfolio selection with mental accounts: An equilibrium model with endogenous risk aversion," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    7. Chiarawongse, Anant & Kiatsupaibul, Seksan & Tirapat, Sunti & Roy, Benjamin Van, 2012. "Portfolio selection with qualitative input," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 489-496.
    8. Baptista, Alexandre M., 2012. "Portfolio selection with mental accounts and background risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 968-980.
    9. Omid Momen & Akbar Esfahanipour & Abbas Seifi, 2020. "A robust behavioral portfolio selection: model with investor attitudes and biases," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 427-446, March.
    10. Taras Bodnar & Yarema Okhrin & Valdemar Vitlinskyy & Taras Zabolotskyy, 2018. "Determination and estimation of risk aversion coefficients," Computational Management Science, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 297-317, June.
    11. Maxime MERLI & Antoine PARENT, 2022. "Portfolio Diversification During the Belle Époque: When the Actual Portfolios of French Individual Investors Met Behavioral Finance," Working Papers of LaRGE Research Center 2022-01, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie (LaRGE), Université de Strasbourg.

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