THE OPTIMIZATION OF EFFICIENT PORTFOLIOS: THE CASE FOR AN R&D QUADRATIC TERM

Abstract

In this study, we produce mean-variance efficient portfolios for various universes in the U.S. equity market, and show that the use of a composite of analyst earnings forecast, revisions, and breadth variable as a portfolio tilt variable and an R&D quadratic term enhances stockholder wealth. The use of the R&D screen creates portfolios in which total active return generally rise relative to the use of the analyst variable. Stock selection may not necessarily rise as risk index and sector index returns are affected by the use of the R&D quadratic term. R&D expenditures of corporations may be integrated into a mean-variance efficient portfolio creation system to enhance stockholder returns and wealth. The use of an R&D variable enhances stockholder wealth relative to the use of capital expenditures or dividends as the quadratic term. The stockholder return implications of the R&D quadratic variable are particularly interesting given that most corporations allocate more of their resources to capital expenditures than R&D.

Citation

Guerard, J.B. and Mark, A. (2003), "THE OPTIMIZATION OF EFFICIENT PORTFOLIOS: THE CASE FOR AN R&D QUADRATIC TERM", Research in Finance (Research in Finance, Vol. 20), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 213-247. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0196-3821(03)20011-3