Diversified Reward-Risk Parity in Portfolio Construction

Abstract

We introduce diversified risk parity embedded with various reward-risk measures and more generic allocation rules for portfolio construction. We empirically test advanced reward-risk parity strategies and compare their performance with an equally-weighted risk portfolio in various asset universes. The reward-risk parity strategies we tested exhibit consistent outperformance evidenced by higher average returns, Sharpe ratios, and Calmar ratios. The alternative allocations also reflect less downside risks in Value-at-Risk, conditional Value-at-Risk, and maximum drawdown. In addition to the enhanced performance and reward-risk profile, transaction costs can be reduced by lowering turnover rates. The Carhart four-factor analysis also indicates that the diversified reward-risk parity allocations gain superior performance.