Portfolio optimization
Portfolio optimization is the process of selecting an optimal portfolio (asset distribution), out of a set of considered portfolios, according to some objective. The objective typically maximizes factors such as expected return, and minimizes costs like financial risk, resulting in a multi-objective optimization problem. Factors being considered may range from tangible (such as assets, liabilities, earnings or other fundamentals) to intangible (such as selective divestment). Modern portfolio theory Modern portfolio theory was introduced in a 1952 doctoral thesis by Harry Markowitz, where the Markowitz model was first defined. The model assumes that an investor aims to maximize a portfolio's expected return contingent on a prescribed amount of risk. Portfolios that meet this criterion, i.e., maximize the expected return given a prescribed amount of risk, are known as efficient portfolios. By definition, any other portfolio yielding a higher amount of expected return must also have excessive risk. This results in a trade-off between the desired expected return and allowable risk. This risk-expected return relationship of efficient portfolios is graphically represented by a curve known as the efficient frontier. All efficient portfolios, each represented by a point on the efficient frontier, are well-diversified. While ignoring higher moments of the return can lead