{"about":{"site":"https://codewithpapers.app","non_affiliation":"Code with Papers and Syntology are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Papers with Code, Meta, or the pwc-archive mirror.","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","licence_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode","attribution":"https://codewithpapers.app/attribution","modified":"archive material modified by Syntology; see the attribution page"},"url":"/paper/deep-reinforcement-learning-for-portfolio","title":"Deep Reinforcement Learning for Long-Short Portfolio Optimization","arxiv_id":"2012.13773","date":"2020-12-26","proceeding":null,"authors":["Gang Huang","Xiaohua Zhou","Qingyang Song"],"abstract":"With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, data-driven methods effectively overcome limitations in traditional portfolio optimization. Conventional models primarily employ long-only mechanisms, excluding highly correlated assets to diversify risk. However, incorporating short-selling enables low-risk arbitrage through hedging correlated assets. This paper constructs a Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) portfolio management framework with short-selling mechanisms conforming to actual trading rules, exploring strategies for excess returns in China's A-share market. Key innovations include: (1) Development of a comprehensive short-selling mechanism in continuous trading that accounts for dynamic evolution of transactions across time periods; (2) Design of a long-short optimization framework integrating deep neural networks for processing multi-dimensional financial time series with mean Sharpe ratio reward functions. Empirical results show the DRL model with short-selling demonstrates significant optimization capabilities, achieving consistent positive returns during backtesting periods. Compared to traditional approaches, this model delivers superior risk-adjusted returns while reducing maximum drawdown. From an allocation perspective, the DRL model establishes a robust investment style, enhancing defensive capabilities through strategic avoidance of underperforming assets and balanced capital allocation. This research contributes to portfolio theory while providing novel methodologies for quantitative investment practice.","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2012.13773v8","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2012.13773v8.pdf","source":{"archive":"pwc-archive (Hugging Face), CC BY-SA 4.0","snapshot":"2025-07-28","licence_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode","row_kind":"abstracts"},"code_links":[{"paper_slug":"deep-reinforcement-learning-for-portfolio","repo_url":"https://github.com/watermeloncq/drl-long-short-optimization-portfolio-SB3py37","is_official":1,"mentioned_in_paper":0,"mentioned_in_github":1,"framework":"pytorch","reach":null}],"tasks":[{"task_slug":"deep-reinforcement-learning","task_name":"Deep Reinforcement Learning"},{"task_slug":"management","task_name":"Management"},{"task_slug":"portfolio-optimization","task_name":"Portfolio Optimization"},{"task_slug":"reinforcement-learning","task_name":"Reinforcement Learning"},{"task_slug":"reinforcement-learning-1","task_name":"Reinforcement Learning (RL)"},{"task_slug":"reinforcement-learning-2","task_name":"reinforcement-learning"}],"methods":[],"datasets_introduced":[],"methods_introduced":[],"results":[],"syntology":{"atlas_url":null,"mcp":null,"developers":"https://syntology.ai/developers"},"arxiv_metadata":null,"syntology_extracted_results":null}