Abstract
Finance textbooks and classroom instructors often show that the set of mean/variance efficient portfolios can be plotted on a graph with the outer edge forming a hyperbola. Our exercise does this on an Excel spreadsheet with realworld data from asset classes that students get to choose. The spreadsheet calculates minimum portfolio standard deviations, the minimum variance portfolio, and the mean/variance efficient portfolio. These values are all graphed in mean/variance space, resulting in the familiar hyperbola. Portfolio constraints can be inserted as well. Students learn how to construct efficient portfolios and the effects of constraints while using real-world data.
Recommended Citation
(2026)
"Finding the Efficient Frontier: An Exercise for Finance Students,"
Journal of Economics and Finance Education: Vol. 15:
Iss.
1, Article 14.
Available at:
https://scholarship.rollins.edu/jefe/vol15/iss1/14
