International Journal of Finance & Managerial Accounting

International Journal of Finance & Managerial Accounting

Dynamic / Adaptive Risk Budgeting with Market Microstructure Signals

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Finance Department, Isl.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 Finance Department, DB.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/ijfma.2026.79165.2365
Abstract
This study proposes a Dynamic Risk Budgeting (DRB) framework that integrates time-varying market microstructure signals into portfolio construction to improve risk-adjusted performance in emerging markets. While classical portfolio optimization methods suffer from severe estimation error and instability, and static risk budgeting approaches rely on the restrictive assumption of stable risk structures, the proposed DRB framework dynamically updates target risk budgets in response to realized volatility and liquidity conditions.
Using daily data for 280 equities and exchange-traded funds listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange, portfolios are constructed under five competing strategies: equally weighted, minimum variance, maximum Sharpe ratio, static risk budgeting (ERC), and the proposed dynamic risk budgeting model. Conditional covariance matrices are estimated on rolling windows, while dynamic risk budgets are formed as convex combinations of inverse-volatility scores and standardized liquidity indicators. Portfolio weights are obtained by minimizing the deviation between realized and target risk contributions under realistic constraints.
The results provide strong evidence that the DRB portfolio dominates both traditional optimization methods and static risk budgeting in terms of risk-adjusted performance and downside risk control. Specifically, DRB achieves higher Sharpe and Sortino ratios, lower annualized volatility, and substantially reduced maximum drawdown relative to all benchmark strategies. These findings indicate that incorporating market microstructure information into the risk budgeting process significantly enhances portfolio resilience and efficiency, particularly in volatile and liquidity-constrained emerging markets. The proposed DRB framework offers a practical and robust alternative to static allocation rules and provides a foundation for future extensions based on machine-learning-driven risk forecasts.
Keywords

  1.  

    1. Amihud, Y. (2002). Illiquidity and stock returns: Cross-section and time-series effects. Journal of Financial Markets, 5(1), 31–56.
    2. Asness, C. S., Frazzini, A., & Pedersen, L. H. (2025). Risk Parity and Its Discontents. SSRN Working Paper. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4794388
    3. Barndorff-Nielsen, O. E., & Shephard, N. (2002). Econometric analysis of realized volatility and its use in estimating stochastic volatility models. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B, 64(2), 253–280.
    4. Bekaert, G., & Harvey, C. R. (2002). Research in emerging markets finance: Looking to the future. Emerging Markets Review, 3(4), 429–448.
    5. Cetingoz, A. R., & Guéant, O. (2023). Asset and factor risk budgeting: A balanced approach. Working Paper. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2312.11132
    6. Cetingoz, A. R., Fermanian, J. D., & Guéant, O. (2024). Risk budgeting portfolios: Existence and computation. Mathematical Finance. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2211.07212
    7. Cetingoz, T., & Guéant, O. (2025). Factor risk budgeting: A robust approach to portfolio construction. Journal of Asset Management.
    8. Chekhlov, A., Uryasev, S., & Zabarankin, M. (2005). Drawdown measure in portfolio optimization. International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance, 8(1), 13–58.
    9. Chen, R., Dai, M., & Xu, Y. (2022). High-dimensional portfolio selection with cardinality constraints. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 117(540), 2339–2352. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.2022.2133718
    10. Clarke, R., De Silva, H., & Thorley, S. (2011). Minimum-variance portfolios in the U.S. equity market. Journal of Portfolio Management, 37(2), 10–24.
    11. Dai, W., Gu, S., & Zhu, Y. (2024). Forecasting and managing volatility: An S&P 500 case study. SSRN Working Paper. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4930890
    12. Dai, Z., Pesenti, R., & Roncalli, T. (2025). Adaptive risk budgeting under market stress. Quantitative Finance.
    13. DeMiguel, V., Garlappi, L., & Uppal, R. (2009). Optimal versus naive diversification: How inefficient is the 1/N portfolio strategy? Review of Financial Studies, 22(5), 1915–1953.
    14. Efron, B., & Tibshirani, R. (1993). An Introduction to the Bootstrap. Chapman & Hall/CRC.
    15. Eling, M., & Schuhmacher, F. (2007). Does the choice of performance measure matter in empirical financial studies? Journal of Banking & Finance, 31(9), 2635–2647.
    16. Fabozzi, F. J., Kolm, P. N., Pachamanova, D. A., & Focardi, S. M. (2010). Robust portfolio optimization and management. John Wiley & Sons.
    17. Goyenko, R. Y., Holden, C. W., & Trzcinka, C. A. (2009). Do liquidity measures measure liquidity? Journal of Financial Economics, 92(2), 153–181.
    18. Jobson, J. D., & Korkie, B. M. (1981). Performance hypothesis testing with the Sharpe and Treynor measures. Journal of Finance, 36(4), 889–908.
    19. López de Prado, M. (2016). Building diversified portfolios that outperform out-of-sample. Journal of Portfolio Management, 42(4), 59–69.
    20. Maillard, S., Roncalli, T., & Teiletche, J. (2010). The properties of equally weighted risk contribution portfolios. The Journal of Portfolio Management, 36(4), 60–70. https://doi.org/10.3905/jpm.2010.36.4.060
    21. Markowitz, H. (1952). Portfolio selection. The Journal of Finance, 7(1), 77–91. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1952.tb01525.x
    22. Memmel, C. (2003). Performance hypothesis testing with the Sharpe ratio. Finance Letters, 1(1), 21–23.
    23. Michaud, R. O. (1989). The Markowitz optimization enigma: Is 'optimized' optimal? Financial Analysts Journal, 45(1), 31–42. https://doi.org/10.2469/faj.v45.n1.31
    24. Pástor, Ľ., & Stambaugh, R. F. (2002). Mutual fund performance and seemingly unrelated assets. Journal of Financial Economics, 63(3), 315–349.
    25. Pesenti, R., Dai, Z., & Roncalli, T. (2025). Dynamic portfolio allocation through adaptive risk budgeting. European Journal of Operational Research.
    26. Pesenti, S. M., Delbaen, F., & Bellini, F. (2025). Risk budgeting allocation for dynamic risk measures. Operations Research. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2303.15830
    27. Pimenta Filho, E. C., de Souza, J. A., & da Silva, A. P. (2024). On risk parity performance. SSRN Working Paper. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4873076
    28. Qian, E. (2006). On the financial interpretation of risk contribution: Risk budgets do add up. Journal of Investment Management, 4(4), 41–51.
    29. Qian, E. (2006). On the financial interpretation of risk contribution: Risk budgets do add up. Journal of Investment Management, 4(4), 1–11.
    30. Roncalli, T. (2013). Introduction to risk parity and budgeting. Chapman & Hall/CRC.
    31. Rujivan, S., et al. (2025). Optimal portfolio construction using the realized volatility concept. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 18(5), 269. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm18050269
    32. Salas-Molina, F., Vicente, R., & Mateo, R. (2025). An empirical evaluation of distance metrics in hierarchical risk parity. Computational Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10614-025-10727-1
    33. Sharpe, W. F. (1966). Mutual fund performance. Journal of Business, 39(1), 119–138.
    34. Sortino, F. A., & Price, L. N. (1994). Performance measurement in a downside risk framework. Journal of Investing, 3(3), 59–64.
    35. Wu, Y., Zhang, H., & Chen, L. (2023). Mean–variance hybrid portfolio optimization with quantile-based risk measure. arXiv preprint. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2303.15830