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International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2225-8329

Heuristic Based Low Volatility Portfolio for Retail Investors in Malaysian Stock Market

Siti Masitah Elias, Muhd Faiz Najmi Abdul Wahab, Karmila Hanim Kamil, Asmah Mohd Jaapar

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARAFMS/v10-i3/7756

Open access

Heuristics based low volatility portfolio construction is a straightforward investment strategy that could be implemented by retail investors in the stock market. This study examines the performance of low volatility portfolio for Shariah and conventional stock portfolios. Specifically, this study back tests the profitability of low volatility portfolio using 15 Shariah and conventional stocks that are listed on Bursa Malaysia using data from January 2014 until December 2018. Combination of large, mid, and small capital firms are included in the study to highlight the difference in portfolio concentration within firm size classification. The results show that, the return of conventional portfolio and shariah compliant portfolio is not statistically different. However, the risk in shariah compliant portfolio is statistically higher than the conventional portfolio. Both portfolios give better annualized return and holding period return than their respective benchmark. Thus, retail investor could take advantage of the strategy to generate abnormal return. For investors that focus on shariah compliant investment only, even though the portfolio has slightly higher risk than the conventional counterpart, this strategy is still worth considering. However, it is advisable for investor to monitor portfolio risk regularly to avoid excessive risk taking and to include more shariah compliant large cap stocks in the portfolio.

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In-Text Citation: (Elias, Abdul Wahab, Kamil, & Jaapar, 2020)
To Cite this Article: Elias, S. M., Abdul Wahab, M. F. N., Kamil, K. H., and Jaapar, A. M. (2020). Heuristic Based Low Volatility Portfolio for Retail Investors in Malaysian Stock Market . International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences. 10(3), 193-203.