10-1 capital market expectations:
framework and macro considerations

1 introduction

2 framework and challenges

a framework for developing
capital market expectations

challenges in forecasting

fundamental law fo investing: the uncertainty of the future

capital market expectations CME:
expectations concerning the risk and return prospects of asset classes
an essential input to formulating a strategic asset allocations

asset allocation - the primary determinant fo long-run portfolio performance

to ensure internal consistency arcoss asset classes (cross-sectional consistency)
and over various time horizons (intertemporal consistency)
→poor risk-return characteristics over any horizon
→distort the connection between decisons and horizon

disciplined
approach

1 specify the set of expectations needed including time horizon apply

2 research the historical record

3 specify the mehods and / or models used and infor requirements

4 determine the best sources for infor needs

5 interpret the current investment enviroment

6 provide the set of expectatiosn needed, documenting the conclusions

7 monitor actual outcomes and compare with expectiontations, providing feedback to improve the expectations-settign process

good forecasts

unbiased objective and well researched

efficient - min the size of forecast errors

internally consistent both cross-sectionally and intertemporally

limitations of econmic data

data measurement errors and biases

the time lag

one or more official revisions to initial data values

definitions and calculation methods change too
periodically re-base

transcription errors

survivorship bias

appraisal (smoothed) data
→measured volatilities biased downward
and correlations with other assets tend to be understated

the limitatiosn of historical estimates

changes in regime → nonstationarity - different parts of a data series reflect different underlying statistical properties
→should use only that part fo the time series that appears relevant to the present

should use the longest data hisoory that reasonable assuance of stationarity

higher-frequency data - improve the precision of the sample variances, covariances and correlations
not improve the precision of the sample mean

many variables are considered - large num of observations may be statistical mecessity

as frequency increases, the likelihood increases that data may be asynchronous across variables
→distorts correlations and induces lead-lag relationships

normally distributed
→skewness and fat tails

ex post risk can be a biased mesasure of ex ante risk

peso problem: looking backward, likely to underestimate ex ante risk and overestimate ex ante anticipated returns

biases in analysts' methods

data-mining bias: such patterns cannot be expected to have predictive value

time-period bias: relates to results that are period specific

to avoid: able to provide an econimic rationale / to examine the forecasting relationship out of sample

the failure to account for conditioning infor

unconditional forecasts: dilute infor by averaging over environments, lead to misperception of prospective risk and return

misinterpretation of correlations

negligible measured correlation may reflect a strong but nonlinear relationship

psychological biases

anchoring bias

status quo bias

confirmation bias

overconfidence bias

prudence bias

abailability bias

model uncertainty: whether structurally and / or conceptually correct

  • parameter uncertainty:parameters invariably estimated with error
  • input uncertainty: whether the inputs are correct