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Lecture

Market Structure: Portfolio, Arbitrage, and Consumption

In course

FIN-609: Asset Pricing (2011 - 2024)

This course provides an overview of the theory of asset pricing and portfolio choice theory following historical developments in the field and putting emphasis on theoretical models that help our understanding of financial decision making and financial mar ...

Description

This lecture covers market structure, risky asset prices, portfolio holdings, completeness of markets, arbitrage, state prices, the law of one price, and optimal consumption-portfolio choice problems. It also discusses valuation functionals, the fundamental theorems of asset pricing, and risk-neutral measures.

Instructor

Semyon Malamud

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Economics

Microeconomics: Financial economics

Related concepts (32)

Fundamental theorem of asset pricing

The fundamental theorems of asset pricing (also: of arbitrage, of finance), in both financial economics and mathematical finance, provide necessary and sufficient conditions for a market to be arbitrage-free, and for a market to be complete. An arbitrage opportunity is a way of making money with no initial investment without any possibility of loss. Though arbitrage opportunities do exist briefly in real life, it has been said that any sensible market model must avoid this type of profit.

Modern portfolio theory

Modern portfolio theory (MPT), or mean-variance analysis, is a mathematical framework for assembling a portfolio of assets such that the expected return is maximized for a given level of risk. It is a formalization and extension of diversification in investing, the idea that owning different kinds of financial assets is less risky than owning only one type. Its key insight is that an asset's risk and return should not be assessed by itself, but by how it contributes to a portfolio's overall risk and return.

Arbitrage pricing theory

In finance, arbitrage pricing theory (APT) is a multi-factor model for asset pricing which relates various macro-economic (systematic) risk variables to the pricing of financial assets. Proposed by economist Stephen Ross in 1976, it is widely believed to be an improved alternative to its predecessor, the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). APT is founded upon the law of one price, which suggests that within an equilibrium market, rational investors will implement arbitrage such that the equilibrium price is eventually realised.

Risk-neutral measure

In mathematical finance, a risk-neutral measure (also called an equilibrium measure, or equivalent martingale measure) is a probability measure such that each share price is exactly equal to the discounted expectation of the share price under this measure. This is heavily used in the pricing of financial derivatives due to the fundamental theorem of asset pricing, which implies that in a complete market, a derivative's price is the discounted expected value of the future payoff under the unique risk-neutral measure.

Arbitrage

In economics and finance, arbitrage (ˈɑːrbᵻtrɑːʒ, -trɪdʒ) is the practice of taking advantage of a difference in prices in two or more markets; striking a combination of matching deals to capitalise on the difference, the profit being the difference between the market prices at which the unit is traded. When used by academics, an arbitrage is a transaction that involves no negative cash flow at any probabilistic or temporal state and a positive cash flow in at least one state; in simple terms, it is the possibility of a risk-free profit after transaction costs.

Related lectures (34)

Asset Pricing: Theory and Applications

Series covers asset pricing theories, mean-variance optimization, state prices, and risk-neutral measures.

Equilibrium State Prices Determination

Explains the determination of equilibrium state prices in asset pricing through consumption market clearing and budget constraints.

Portfolio Theory: Risk Parity Strategy

Explores Portfolio Theory with a focus on the Risk Parity Strategy, discussing asset allocation proportional to the inverse of volatility and comparing different diversified portfolios.

Factor Models and CAPM

Covers the Capital Asset Pricing Model, estimating betas, empirical evidence on returns versus beta, short-sale constraints, and optimal portfolio choice.

Investments: Portfolio Selection and Asset Pricing