POSSIBILITIES OF APPLYING MARKOWITZ PORTFOLIO THEORY ON THE CROATIAN CAPITAL MARKET Dubravka Pekanov Starčević, Ph.D. J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Economics in Osijek E-mail:
[email protected] Ana ZRNIć, Ph.D. Student, J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Economics in Osijek E-mail:
[email protected] Tamara Jakšić, BEcon, student J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Economics in Osijek E-mail:
[email protected] POSSIBILITIES OF APPLYING MARKOWITZ PORTFOLIO THEORY ON THE CROATIAN CAPITAL... MARKOWITZ PORTFOLIO THEORY ON THE CROATIAN POSSIBILITIES OF APPLYING Abstract In order to achieve the maximum possible profit by taking the lowest possible risk, investors build a stock portfolio consisting of a specific number of stocks which, according to the principle of diversification, significantly reduce the risk of loss. To build a portfolio, in developed capital markets investors have used the Markowitz portfolio optimization model for many years that enables us to find an optimal risk-return trade-off by selecting certain stock combinations. Despite the development of the Zagreb Stock Exchange, i.e., the central trading venue in the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian capital market is still under- developed. It is characterized by numerous shortcomings such as low liquidity, lack of transparency, high stock price volatility and insufficient traffic. Accord- ingly, the aim of this paper is to provide an insight into the functioning of the Dubravka Pekanov Starčević • Ana Zrnić • Tamara Jakšić: Dubravka Pekanov Starčević • Ana Zrnić Tamara 520 Croatian capital market and to examine the possibility of building an optimal stock portfolio by using the Markowitz model.