The Use of Variance of Returns in Standard Portfolio Theory

question 4

True/False

The use of variance of returns in standard portfolio theory depends on whether the return distribution is symmetric with fat-tails.

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Definitions:

Expected Value

The long-run average value of repetitions of the same experiment or random process, calculated as the sum of all possible values weighted by their probabilities of occurrence.

Parameter

A numerical characteristic or feature of a population that is estimated using sample data.

Sample Variance

A measure of the dispersion or variability within a sample dataset, indicating how much the individual data points differ from the sample mean.

Population Variance

A measure of the dispersion of a set of data points in a population, calculated as the average of the squared distances of each data point from the population mean.