Simple and enlarged separation portfolios. On their use when arbitraging and synthesizing securities
This paper seeks to provide a framework for separation portfolios when they are used not only as synthetics of a matching security but also as building blocks of arbitrage portfolios, in a background provided by the CAPM world. Firstly, synthetics are defined by means of a vectorial framework that maps portfolios onto their risk-return profiles. Separation portfolios are extensively analyzed afterwards, establishing three propositions that lay the groundwork for using them as synthetics.