English

Risk budget portfolios with convex Non-negative Matrix Factorization

Portfolio Management 2023-06-13 v2 Econometrics Applications Machine Learning

Abstract

We propose a portfolio allocation method based on risk factor budgeting using convex Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF). Unlike classical factor analysis, PCA, or ICA, NMF ensures positive factor loadings to obtain interpretable long-only portfolios. As the NMF factors represent separate sources of risk, they have a quasi-diagonal correlation matrix, promoting diversified portfolio allocations. We evaluate our method in the context of volatility targeting on two long-only global portfolios of cryptocurrencies and traditional assets. Our method outperforms classical portfolio allocations regarding diversification and presents a better risk profile than hierarchical risk parity (HRP). We assess the robustness of our findings using Monte Carlo simulation.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2204.02757,
  title  = {Risk budget portfolios with convex Non-negative Matrix Factorization},
  author = {Bruno Spilak and Wolfgang Karl Härdle},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2204.02757},
  year   = {2023}
}
R2 v1 2026-06-24T10:39:43.202Z