Strategy Does a liquidity factor premium exist in the stock market?
Academic studies present ample evidence in support of the existence of four factor premiums in stock markets: Low Risk, Value, Momentum, and Quality. Factor investing puts these concepts into practice by enabling investors to allocate their capital explicitly to these (...)
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Innovation Amundi unveils the first European Equity Multi-Factor Market Neutral ETF
Amundi ETF continues to innovate with the launch of the first European Equity Multi Factor Market Neutral ETF. Available on Euronext Paris, it will also be listed on the main European stock exchanges in the coming (...)
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Opinion Psychology and smart beta
‘Smart beta’ sounds like an oxymoron. How smart can it be to continue using the same strategy in such fickle markets? A portfolio manager calling on all his skills (‘alpha’) in analysing market environments (the source of ‘beta’) should be able to outperform an unchanged (...)
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Opinion Smart Betas offer a new approach to bridge market bias
When Alan Greenspan spoke of "market exuberance" (i.e. the lightning-fast mood swings from optimism to an investment bubble popping) wasn’t he referring to what we could call a "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" syndrome?
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Strategy Controling investment risk in commodities investment
Commodities exhibit unique characteristics including low correlations with bonds and equities and inflation-hedging abilities. These have made commodities an attractive addition to diversified portfolios and have generated growing interest in commodity (...)
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Strategy Why is smart beta a true revolution?
So what is “smart beta”? A mere revolt against traditional indices? No, Sir, it’s a true revolution – the factor investing revolution. The questioning of allegiance to traditional indices, which until now were used broadly despite some serious drawbacks, has only just begun, but (...)
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Innovation Invesco launches high-dividend, low-volatility ETFs
According to Invesco, Canadian investors are increasingly seeking income from their holdings but they may be concerned about the relatively limited opportunities within the domestic equity market. Foreign equity markets may provide greater (...)
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Note Building Minimum Variance Portfolios with low risk, low drawdowns and strong returns
This paper provides an introduction to the STOXX Minimum Variance Indices and aims to achieve three things : i) an overview of minimum variance investing ii) the methodology for the construction and maintenance of the STOXX Minimum Variance Indices, highlighting the unique (...)
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Strategy Low volatility, the hidden factor
Robert Haugen, who discovered the low-volatility anomaly in 1972, wrote numerous articles and books to try to popularise what he called the ‘hidden factor’. To some extent, it was only the advent of smart beta investment strategies that turned his dream into reality, as low (...)
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Strategy Risk factor investing explained
Risk factor investing is growing in popularity, but there’s a risk of getting lost in the factor “zoo”. In this Expert Opinion Thierry Roncalli, Head of Quantitative Research at Lyxor Asset Management, explains the concept of risk factors and distinguishes between facts and (...)
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Pedagogy iSTOXX™ Europe Minimum Variance
The approach initiated by Ossiam’s research and management team intends to obtain an optimized portfolio that includes a selection of stocks where volatility is among the lowest in the investment universe
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Strategy From Smarter Beta to Smart Alpha
Unlike cap-weighted indexes, smart beta strategies are not buy-and-hold: they require trading and rebalancing to maintain their respective exposures. This can have a surprising impact on long-term performance, and may also provide a cause for concern in the shorter (...)
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Opinion When Smart Is Not That Smart
Can Beta Become Smarter? Nobel Prize-winning economist William Sharpe introduced the notions of “beta” and “alpha” decades ago. Put simply, Sharpe defined beta as a measure of a portfolio’s sensitivity relative to the market. Under this definition, it is difficult to fathom how (...)
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Strategy “Diversified Equity Factor Investing” combines four complementary factors that are loosely correlated with one another
Based on factor investment, this innovative approach capitalises on the attractive performances thus far of smart beta strategies. It is based on the combination, within the same portfolio, of four complementary factors that are loosely correlated with one another: Quality, (...)
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Innovation Solactive launches Solactive SuperRegion Select Index licensed to Credit Suisse
Solactive AG, the German multi-asset class index provider, announces today the release of the Solactive SuperRegion Select Index. The new launch consists of a smart beta concept incorporating high dividend yield shares that also exhibit low historical volatility from Asia, (...)
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