<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> The fact that cap-weighted indices provide an inefficient risk-return trade-off is well known today. Various research approaches evolved suggesting alternative to cap-weighting in an effort to come up with a more efficient market index benchmark. In this paper we aim to use such an approach and focus on the Croatian capital market. We apply statistical shrinkage method suggested by Ledoit and Wolf (2004) to estimate the covariance matrix and follow the work of Amenc et al. (2011) to obtain estimates of expected returns that rely on risk-return trade-off. Empirical findings for the proposed portfolio optimization include out-of-sample and robustness testing. This way we compare the performance of the capital-weighted benchmark to the alternative and ensure that consistency is achieved in different volatility environments. Research findings do not seem to support relevant research results for the developed markets but rather complement earlier research (Zoričić et al., 2014).</p></abstract>

The fact that cap-weighted indices provide an inefficient risk-return trade-off is well known today. Various research approaches evolved suggesting alternative to cap-weighting in an effort to come up with a more efficient market index benchmark. In this paper we aim to use such an approach and focus on the Croatian capital market. We apply statistical shrinkage method suggested by Ledoit and Wolf (2004) to estimate the covariance matrix and follow the work of Amenc et al. (2011) to obtain estimates of expected returns that rely on risk-return trade-off. Empirical findings for the proposed portfolio optimization include out-of-sample and robustness testing. This way we compare the performance of the capital-weighted benchmark to the alternative and ensure that consistency is achieved in different volatility environments. Research findings do not seem to support relevant research results for the developed markets but rather complement earlier research (Zoričić et al., 2014).

Towards the Estimation of an Efficient Benchmark Portfolio: The Case of Croatian Emerging Market

University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics & Business, Zagreb,

McKinsey & Company - Global management cons ulting, Zagreb,

Zagreb International Review of Economics and Business

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

The fact that cap-weighted indices provide an inefficient risk-return trade-off is well known today. Various research approaches evolved suggesting alternative...

Towards the Estimation of an Efficient Benchmark Portfolio: The Case of Croatian Emerging Market

Article Category: Issue title: Special Conference Issue

Published Online: May 03, 2017

Page range: 13 - 23

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/zireb-2017-0002

Keywords
efficient benchmark, cap-weighted indices, risk-return trade-off, undeveloped and illiquid markets

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Towards the Estimation of an Efficient Benchmark Portfolio: The Case of Croatian Emerging Market

Article Category: Issue title: Special Conference Issue

Published Online: May 03, 2017

Page range: 13 - 23

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/zireb-2017-0002

Keywordsefficient benchmark, cap-weighted indices, risk-return trade-off, undeveloped and illiquid markets

© 2017

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
efficient benchmark, cap-weighted indices, risk-return trade-off, undeveloped and illiquid markets