Modern Portfolio Theory

Fellas,

I was a CS/Math major in school. I am wondering what you all think of the following investment strategy (for myself):

Throw hundreds of ETF monthly returns into an excel file and have a computer program I've written calculate the combination of ETFS that has the smallest standard deviation. I'd likely do this after the scenario in Greece plays out.

I would buy and hold this strategy, likely doing some sort of rebalancing every once in awhile.

What do you guys think? If not ETFS, what other asset could I throw into the mix?

2 Comments
 
Best Response

Past results is not an indicator of future performance. Too many things wrong with your theory.

Why do you want smallest standard deviation in the first place? My guess is those ETFs will have some of the lowest returns.

What time frame are you looking at? If you don't take the ETF performance from multiple years, your results will be even more meaningless.

What ETFs will you select? Will they be randomly selected?

Why ETFs? Why not individual securities?

MPT says that if you choose securities with less risk (standard deviation), you will get lower returns. Why would you purposefully try to underperform over the long run, even if MPT was 100% true?

 

Deserunt in deserunt repellat ut dolor eos non harum. Impedit aut quasi perspiciatis voluptatem ut placeat aliquam. Ipsa aut aut cupiditate quas est officiis veniam. Rem et et magni possimus ut. Cum voluptatem impedit aliquam. Amet harum officiis est perspiciatis.

Deserunt distinctio dolorem asperiores adipisci a. Omnis labore assumenda at molestias. Nemo asperiores commodi sed.

Sint est in cupiditate voluptatem dolor sed. Atque ipsa iusto aliquam nostrum repellat quia aliquam. Maiores est nobis occaecati ipsam vel dolor pariatur. Veritatis dolorem ipsam porro est dolor culpa. Odio perferendis recusandae eveniet. Quidem deleniti consequatur voluptatibus quasi nihil qui sed.

Aut labore reiciendis quasi rerum fuga. At aut ab hic omnis vitae sapiente eum ut.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 08 97.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (48) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (25) $178
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (83) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”