Portfolio optimization in the case of an asset with a given liquidation time distribution

Management of the portfolios containing low liquidity assets is a tedious problem. The buyer proposes the price that can differ greatly from the paper value estimated by the seller, so the seller can not liquidate his portfolio instantly and waits for a more favorable offer. To minimize losses and move the theory towards practical needs onecan take into account the time lag of the liquidation of an illiquid asset. Working in the Merton’s optimal consumption framework with continuous time we consider an optimization problem for a portfolio with an illiquid, a risky and a risk-free asset. While a standard Black-Scholes market describes the liquid part of the investment the illiquid asset is sold at an exogenous random moment with prescribed liquidation time distribution. The investor has the logarithmic utility function as a limit case of a HARA-type utility. Different distributions of the liquidation time of the illiquid asset are under consideration - a classical exponential distribution andWeibull distribution that is more practically relevant. Under certain conditions we show the existenceof the viscosity solution in both cases. Applying numerical methods we compare classical Merton’s strategies and the optimal consumption-allocation strategies for portfolios with different liquidation time distributions of an illiquid asset