Nowadays, the selection and management of the optimal portfolio are the most primary fields of financial decision-making. Thereby, selecting a portfolio capable of providing the highest efficiency and, at the same time, the lowest investment risk has been turned into one of the most critical concerns among financial activists. However, in this selection, the two factors above are not the only determining ones. Various factors are affecting financial markets' behavior under different possible scenarios, which should be identified. In this paper, we examine the high sensitivity of the Iranian capital market to the exchange rate fluctuations in the different scenarios due to the lack of a unified view of the value of that rate among experts as one of the mentioned factors and obtain its value using Dempster–Shafer theory (DST). Then, a portfolio selection model that prefers stocks with higher ranks is proposed. Representative results of the real-life case study reveal that the submitted approach is productive and practically applicable.

This research aims to enhance portfolio selection by integrating machine learning regression algorithms for predicting stock returns with various risk measures. These measures include mean-value-at-risk (VaR) variance (Var), semi-variance mean-absolute-deviation (MAD) and conditional value-at-risk (C-VaR). Addressing gaps in existing literature. Traditional methods lack adaptability to dynamic market conditions. We propose a hybrid approach optimized by genetic algorithms. The study employs multiple machine learning models. These include Random Forest, AdaBoost XGBoost, Support Vector Machine Regression (SVR) K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN). These models are used to forecast stock returns. Utilizing monthly data from the Tehran Stock Exchange, the results indicate that the genetic algorithm prediction model combined with mean-VaR, Var semi-variance and MAD, produces the most efficient portfolios. These portfolios offer superior returns with minimized risk compared to other models. This hybrid strategy provides a robust and efficient method for investors aiming to optimize returns while managing risk effectively. To implement this approach successfully it is crucial to balance investments. This involves both traditional and alternative asset classes, ensuring diversification. It also capitalizes on market opportunities. Regular review and adjustment of fund allocation are essential. Maintain an optimized strategy for maximum returns and minimal risk.

In this study, we attempted to conduct a comprehensive review of the existing and pertinent literature on the topic of factor investment. We performed Scientometric analysis of studies published in reputable finance journals, i.e., The Journal of Portfolio Management, The Financial Analysts Journal, The Journal of Asset Management and others, during the years 2014 to 2023. To obtain the research data for our study, we gathered and examined a collection of 76 bibliographic records sourced from the Web of Science database. This database provided a comprehensive and reliable source of scholarly publications in the field of finance. To analyze the data, we employed Scientometric networks as part of our analytical approach. Scientometric networks allowed us to explore the relationships and connections between different publications, authors, and keywords within the domain of factor investment. To visualize and present the research findings, we utilized the Bibliometrix package for R, a powerful tool specifically designed for bibliometric analysis. This package enabled us to generate insightful visualizations that showcased the key patterns, trends, and interconnections within the literature on factor investment. By employing Scientometric analysis and leveraging the capabilities of the Bibliometrix package, we aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the existing scholarly research in this field and contribute to the understanding of factor investment.

Portfolio optimization aims to minimize risk and maximize return on investment by determining the best combination of securities and proportions. The variance in portfolio optimization models is typically used for a measure of risk. Over the last few decades, portfolio optimization utilizing a variety of risk measures has grown significantly, and many studies have been conducted. Therefore, this paper provides a systematic review of risk measures for portfolio optimization using bibliometric analysis and maps to analyze the evolution and trends of 682 articles published between 2000 and 2022. Throughout this analysis, communication networks among articles, authors, sources, countries, and keywords are explored. Furthermore, a classification of risks and risk measures were presented to demonstrate a comprehensive overview of the field, and the top 50 papers were analyzed to determine which risk measures were most often used in recent studies.

Since late 2019 and throughout 2020, the global economy has been experiencing difficult times due to the outbreak of the lethal Coronavirus (COVID-19). This study looks at the financial impact of this epidemic on the global economy using Malaysian market index i.e. FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI before and during COVID-19. Measuring the financial impact of this epidemic on the Malaysia economy may help policy makers to develop measures to avert similar financial catastrophic impacts on the global economy. The study uses Sharpe optimal and naïve diversification model to solve a scenario that factors in the level of corporate social responsibility(CSR) exhibited before and during the epidemic to measure the financial impact on the stock portfolio. The results show that the emergence of COVID-19exacerbated the already weak Malaysian economy. Our findings may help the policy makers in Malaysia to develop and maintain techniques and policies that may mitigate the negative financial impact and handle similar epidemics in the future. Future studies could cover the financial impact of CSR using variable scoring and apply the portfolio model with practical and prevailing constraints.

The primary concern in all portfolio management systems is to find a good tradeoff between risk and expected return and a good balance between accepted risk and actual return indicates the performance of a particular portfolio. This paper develops “A-Y Model” to measure the performance of a portfolio and analyze it during the bull and the bear market. This paper considers the daily information of one year before and one year after Iran & apos; s 2013 precedential election. The proposed model of this paper provides lost profit and unrealized loss to measure the portfolio performance. The proposed study first ranks the resulted data and then uses some non-parametric methods to see whether there is any change because of the changes in markets on the performance of the portfolio. The results indicate that despite increasing profitable opportunities in bull market, the performance of the portfolio did not match the target risk. As a result, using A-Y Model as a risk and return base model to measure portfolio management & apos; s performance appears to reduce risks and increases return of portfolio.

Mutual fund is one of the most popular techniques for many people to invest their funds where a professional fund manager invests people & apos; s funds based on some special predefined objectives; therefore, performance evaluation of mutual funds is an important problem. This paper proposes a multi-objective portfolio optimization to offer asset allocation. The proposed model clusters mutual funds with two methods based on six characteristics including rate of return, variance, semivariance, turnover rate, Treynor index and Sharpe index. Semivariance is used as a downside risk measure. The proposed model of this paper uses fuzzy variables for return rate and semivariance. A multi-objective fuzzy mean-semivariance portfolio optimization model is implemented and fuzzy programming technique is adopted to solve the resulted problem. The proposed model of this paper has gathered the information of mutual fund traded on Nasdaq from 2007 to 2009 and Pareto optimal solutions are obtained considering different weights for objective functions. The results of asset allocation, rate of return and risk of each cluster are also determined and they are compared with the results of two clustering methods.

A good portfolio optimization on banks’ currency holdings not only helps meet their needs but also it increases banks’ total assets. During the past few months, US sanctions against Iran has influenced profitability banking currency portfolio holding. The proposed model of this paper considers the weekly information of two years before and after sanctions occurred in Iranian banking system. Therefore, the study uses 210 weekly data and proposes a method to analyze the data to measure the performance of banking currency portfolio after sanction happens. The proposed model of this paper provides lost profit and unrealized loss and using the idea of Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) we rank the resulted data. Next, we use some parametric and non-parametric methods to see whether there is any change as a result of sanction on the performance of the portfolio. The results indicate that not only the performance of the portfolio was reduced but also the variance of the return after sanction has been increased.

During the past five decades, there have been tremendous efforts to offer different methods for portfolio management. The primary objective of many of these methods is to provide a trade-off between risk and reward. The proposed study of this paper uses analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and grey relational analysis to offer a method for portfolio management. The proposed method of this paper uses a statistical sample consists of 16 firms whose shares were trading during the fiscal year of 2010 on Tehran Stock Exchange. The study uses AHP and gray relational analysis to assign weight to each firm. We also use a linear programming technique to model the resulted problem by considering some realistic constraints.

The problem of portfolio optimization has always been a key concern for investors. This paper addresses a realistic portfolio optimization problem with floor, ceiling, and cardinality constraints. This problem is a mixed integer quadratic programming where traditional optimization methods fail to find the optimal solution, efficiently. The present paper develops a new hybrid approach based on an improved particle swarm optimization (PSO) and a modified simulated annealing (SA) to find the cardinality constrained efficient frontier. The proposed algorithm benefits from simple and easy characteristics of PSO with an adaptation of inertia weights and constriction factor. In addition, incorporating an SA procedure into IPSO helps escaping from local optima and improves the precision of convergence. Computational results on benchmark problems with up to 225 assets signify that our proposed algorithm exceeds not only the standard PSO but also the other heuristic algorithms previously presented to solve the cardinality constrained portfolio problem.