Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Publication

The limits of leverage

Date
2019
Abstract
When trading incurs proportional costs, leverage can scale an asset's return only up to a maximum multiple, which is sensitive to its volatility and liquidity. In a model with one safe and one risky asset, with constant investment opportunities and proportional costs, we find strategies that maximize long‐term returns given average volatility. As leverage increases, rising rebalancing costs imply declining Sharpe ratios. Beyond a critical level, even returns decline. Holding the Sharpe ratio constant, higher asset volatility leads to superior returns through lower costs.
Supervisor
Description
peer-reviewed
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Citation
Mathematical Finance;29 (1), pp. 249-284
Funding code
Funding Information
Sustainable Development Goals
External Link
Type
Article
Rights
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0/
License