The Myth of Diversification Reconsidered

Posted: 11 Feb 2021

See all articles by William B. Kinlaw

William B. Kinlaw

State Street Global Markets

Mark Kritzman

Windham Capital Management; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management

Sébastien Page

affiliation not provided to SSRN

David Turkington

State Street Associates

Date Written: February 3, 2021

Abstract

That investors should diversify their portfolios is a core principle of modern finance. Yet there are some periods where diversification is undesirable. When the portfolio’s main growth engine performs well, investors prefer the opposite of diversification. An ideal complement to the growth engine would provide diversification when it performs poorly and unification when it performs well. Numerous studies have presented evidence of asymmetric correlations between assets. Unfortunately, this asymmetry is often of the undesirable variety: it is characterized by downside unification and upside diversification. In other words, diversification often disappears when it is most needed. In this article we highlight a fundamental flaw in the way that some prior studies have measured correlation asymmetry. Because they estimate downside correlations from subsamples where both assets perform poorly, they ignore instances of “successful” diversification; that is, periods where one asset’s gains offset the other’s losses. We propose instead that investors measure what matters: the degree to which a given asset diversifies the main growth engine when it underperforms. This approach yields starkly different conclusions, particularly for asset pairs with low full sample correlation. In this paper we review correlation mathematics, highlight the flaw in prior studies, motivate the correct approach, and present an empirical analysis of correlation asymmetry across major asset classes.

Keywords: Bivariate normal distribution, conditional correlation, correlation asymmetry, correlation profile, exceedance correlation, full scale optimization, mean variance optimization, tail dependence

JEL Classification: C00, C10, C15, G11

Suggested Citation

Kinlaw, William B. and Kritzman, Mark and Page, Sébastien and Turkington, David, The Myth of Diversification Reconsidered (February 3, 2021). MIT Sloan Research Paper No. 6257-21, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3781844 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3781844

William B. Kinlaw

State Street Global Markets ( email )

One Lincoln Street
Boston, MA 02111-2900
United States

Mark Kritzman (Contact Author)

Windham Capital Management ( email )

One Federal Street
21st Floor
Boston, MA 02110
United States
6174193900 (Phone)
6172365034 (Fax)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management ( email )

100 Main Street
E62-416
Cambridge, MA 02142
United States

Sébastien Page

affiliation not provided to SSRN

David Turkington

State Street Associates ( email )

United States

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