Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 29 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write , , and let with . The portfolio holds shares of stock and units of the zero-coupon bond. It is self-financing when all changes of holdings are funded within it, which is the gain identityUnder the physical probability measure, write , where and . The Itô formula givesMatching the Brownian motion coefficients forces . Since , this is preciselyDifferentiating gives . Since , matching the drift coefficients now givesThese are the self-financing conditions for smooth stock and bond holdings. Conversely, substituting both identities into the Itô formula gives the gain identity, so they are sufficient as well. Smoothness and the positive lognormal distribution density of extend the identities along the price process to every , with boundary times obtained by continuity.
The portfolio with constant stock value in bond units must have , so . The first condition then gives , henceThe second condition reduces to . Initial portfolio wealth requires . Therefore the holdings areThe corresponding portfolio wealth isUnder the risk-neutral measure, , so its value in zero-coupon bond units is . This also verifies the self-financing gain equation after using the bond as numéraire.