Problem bank

Problem 262 of 333MediumFinanceP262

Minimum-variance mix of two assets

  1. Two assets have volatilities σ1=20%\sigma_1 = 20\% and σ2=30%\sigma_2 = 30\% and correlation ρ=0.5\rho = 0.5. You must be fully invested: w1+w2=1w_1 + w_2 = 1. Use a Lagrange multiplier to find the weights that minimize portfolio variance, and give the resulting volatility. For which correlations does the minimum-variance portfolio short the second asset?