A Mixture of Gaussians Approach to Mathematical Portfolio Oversight: The EF3M Algorithm

Quantitative Finance, 2013, Forthcoming

Johnson School Research Paper Series No. 39-2011

34 Pages Posted: 22 Sep 2011 Last revised: 27 Oct 2013

See all articles by Marcos Lopez de Prado

Marcos Lopez de Prado

Cornell University - Operations Research & Industrial Engineering; Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; True Positive Technologies

Matthew Foreman

University of California, Irvine

Date Written: June 15, 2013

Abstract

An analogue can be made between: (a) the slow pace at which species adapt to an environment, which often results in the emergence of a new distinct species out of a once homogeneous genetic pool, and (b) the slow changes that take place over time within a fund, mutating its investment style. A fund’s track record provides a sort of genetic marker, which we can use to identify mutations. This has motivated our use of a biometric procedure to detect the emergence of a new investment style within a fund’s track record. In doing so, we answer the question: “What is the probability that a particular PM’s performance is departing from the reference distribution used to allocate her capital?”

The EF3M approach, inspired by evolutionary biology, may help detect early stages of an evolutionary divergence in an investment style, and trigger a decision to review a fund’s capital allocation.

Keywords: Skewness, Kurtosis, Mixture of Gaussians, Moment Matching, Maximum Likelihood, EM algorithm

JEL Classification: C01, C02, C15, C16, C38, C44

Suggested Citation

López de Prado, Marcos and López de Prado, Marcos and Foreman, Matthew, A Mixture of Gaussians Approach to Mathematical Portfolio Oversight: The EF3M Algorithm (June 15, 2013). Quantitative Finance, 2013, Forthcoming, Johnson School Research Paper Series No. 39-2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1931734 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1931734

Marcos López de Prado (Contact Author)

Cornell University - Operations Research & Industrial Engineering ( email )

237 Rhodes Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.orie.cornell.edu

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ( email )

211 Corniche Road
Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi PO Box3600
United Arab Emirates

HOME PAGE: http://www.adia.ae

True Positive Technologies ( email )

NY
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.truepositive.com

Matthew Foreman

University of California, Irvine ( email )

Mathematics Department
Irvine, CA California 62697-3125
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
5,405
Abstract Views
14,997
Rank
2,924
PlumX Metrics