Portfolio Insurance — A Comparison of Alternative Strategies

This study makes a comparison between the most popular strategies of Portfolio Insurance based on Monte Carlo simulation. This work aims to define the best strategy at comparing different strategies and provide a contribution to solving some divergences in literature. Most of the previous comparisons do not take into consideration all the strategies discussed in this study and this analysis intends to add some relevant findings. The OBPI, CPPI and SLPI strategies are evaluated in terms of moments of the distribution, performance ratios (Sharpe ratio, Sortino ratio, Omega ratio and Upside Potential ratio) and stochastic dominance in different market conditions represented by an underlying asset that follows a geometric Brownian motion. In order to have a perception of a real situation in financial markets, the strategies are later also applied to three major stock indices (S&P 500, DJ EuroStoxx 50 and Nikkei 225). We find that CPPI 1 and SLPI strategies should be preferred in all scenarios according to the higher performance ratios, the higher expected returns and other measures. The choice between them is based on the preferences of the investor or manager, but we also find that the CPPI 1 strategy stochastically dominates, on second and third order, the others strategies in bear market scenarios. From our results we can state that a value of 100% for the floor should be preferred in terms of performance ratios, expected returns and other measures. This comparison allows improving the efficiency of decision making of an investor or manager in a Portfolio Insurance investment.