PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Mark Gurliacci
AU  - David Jeria
AU  - George Sofianos
TI  - Optimal Participation and Short-Term Alpha
DP  - 2010 Mar 20
TA  - Trading
PG  - 78--85
VI  - 2010
IP  - 1
4099  - http://guides.pm-research.com/content/2010/1/78.short
4100  - http://guides.pm-research.com/content/2010/1/78.full
AB  - One of the most important decisions a trader has to make is how aggressively to execute. The right execution aggressiveness depends critically on short-term alpha. This article uses the Goldman Sachs trading cost model to derive the trader's optimal execution aggressiveness for different short-term alpha estimates. In this analysis, the trader optimizes execution aggressiveness by choosing the participation rate that minimizes execution shortfall. Shortfall has two components: liquidity impact and alpha loss. Increasing the participation rate speeds up executions and reduces alpha loss but increases impact. The optimal participation rate balances the reduced alpha loss of faster executions against the higher impact. For large-cap stocks and orders (2% of a day's volume, for example), when the expected alpha-to-close is 20 bps, the optimal participation is 7%.