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Expected return of the zero-variance two-asset mix

Question

Asset 1 has expected return 4%4\% and variance 0.150.15, asset 2 has expected return 2%2\% and variance 0.040.04, and their correlation is −1-1. Combine them with weights summing to one so the portfolio is riskless. What is its expected return, to three significant figures?

Short answer

About 2.68%2.68\%. The riskless weights are w1=σ2σ1+σ2≈0.341w_1=\frac{\sigma_2}{\sigma_1+\sigma_2}\approx0.341 and w2≈0.659w_2\approx0.659, so the return is 0.04⋅0.2+0.020.150.15+0.2≈0.0268\frac{0.04\cdot0.2+0.02\sqrt{0.15}}{\sqrt{0.15}+0.2}\approx0.0268.

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