TY - JOUR AB - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the implications of the risk versus characteristic debate from the perspective of a mean-variance investor.Design/methodology/approach Expected returns and the variance-covariance matrix are estimated based on various characteristic and risk models and evaluated for the purpose of mean-variance portfolios.Findings Return estimates from characteristic models are most informative to investors. Risk-factor models provide the most informative estimates of the risk. A mean-variance investor should rely on combinations of the two model types.Originality/value Although the risk vs characteristic debate is a binary academic debate, our findings from an investor's perspective suggest to make use of the best of both worlds. VL - 20 IS - 2 SN - 1526-5943 DO - 10.1108/JRF-10-2018-0163 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/JRF-10-2018-0163 AU - Fieberg Christian AU - Varmaz Armin AU - Poddig Thorsten PY - 2019 Y1 - 2019/01/01 TI - Risk models vs characteristic models from an investor’s perspective: Make use of the best of both worlds T2 - The Journal of Risk Finance PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 201 EP - 222 Y2 - 2024/03/29 ER -