Zura Kakushadze and Willie Yu

Correspondence: Zura Kakushadze , zura@quantigic.com

Quantigic Solutions LLC, USA

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Abstract

We discuss - in what is intended to be a pedagogical fashion - generalized "mean-to-risk" ratios for portfolio optimization. The Sharpe ratio is only one example of such generalized "mean-to-risk" ratios. Another example is what we term the Fano ratio (which, unlike the Sharpe ratio, is independent of the time horizon). Thus, for long-only portfolios optimizing the Fano ratio generally results in a more diversified and less skewed portfolio (compared with optimizing the Sharpe ratio). We give an explicit algorithm for such optimization. We also discuss (Fano-ratio-inspired) long-short strategies that outperform those based on optimizing the Sharpe ratio in our backtests.

Keywords:

  Portfolio, Stocks, Equities, Optimization, Sharpe Ratio, Fano Ratio, Risk, Return, Expected Return, Alpha, Specific Risk, Idiosyncratic Risk, Factor Loadings, Factor Covariance Matrix, Risk Factor, Volatility, Variance, Covariance, Correlation, Bounds, Trading Costs, Constraints, Regression, Weights.

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