A CONTINUOUS-TIME PORTFOLIO TURNPIKE THEOREM

We prove a continuous-time portfolio turnpike theorem. The proof uses the theory of martingales and is more intuitively appealing than the usual discrete-time mode of proof using dynamic programming. When the interest rate is strictly positive, the present value of any contingent claim having payoffs bounded from above can be made arbitrarily small when the investment horizon increases. Thus an investor concentrates his wealth in buying contingent claims that have payoffs unbounded from above at the very beginning of his horizon. As a consequence, it is the asymptotic property of his utility function as wealth goes to infinity that determines his optimal investment strategy at the very beginning of his horizon.