notices - See details
Notices
Bridge over ocean
29 June 2023 Financial Analysts Journal Volume 79, Issue 3

Personalized Multiple Account Portfolio Optimization

Thomas M. Idzorek, CFA

The author proposes an alpha-tracking error framework that simultaneously optimizes across accounts with different tax treatments, tax lots, and investments while considering taxes, trade costs, and nonpecuniary preferences in a single optimization.

Read the Complete Article in the Financial Analysts Journal CFA Institute Member Content In Practice: Member Companion Feature Read Brief CFA Institute Member Content Author Shares the Practical Applications Watch Video

Author Shares What Motivated the Research

Abstract

I develop a multi-account alpha-tracking error framework that simultaneously optimizes across an investor’s multiple accounts with different tax treatments, existing holdings, tax lots, and opportunity sets while considering taxes and trade costs in a single optimization. The objective function includes an optional term for an investor’s nonpecuniary preferences, such as various environmental, social, and governance (ESG) characteristics. By running the multi-account optimizer regularly, it also serves as a personalized asset location optimizer, tax-loss harvester, portfolio rebalancer, roll-over optimizer, and new client onboarding transition optimizer that simultaneously considers the numerous interconnected tradeoffs to produce ongoing personalized portfolio management.