Smoother than the Sum of its Parts – An Approach to Portfolio Optimization
In a previous post “Don’t be fooled by Randomness”, we discussed how the central feature of a modern efficient market is the dominance of random price action (or noise). To explain how this noise is manifested, think of the behaviour of the traders, institutions and investors who interact with the market. The participants span the spectrum of timescales from the intraday traders and High Frequency Traders (HFT) that interact with the market on the very short timescale to the very long term position traders who interact with the market on a far more selective and infrequent basis. Each of the different participant behavioural groupings vary in the outcomes they are seeking from their interactions with the market including their timing and position sizing. Putting this all together as a collective image over time, we can imagine the maelstrom of interactions and the intractable nature of predicting future price action with fidelity.
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