Vanguard’s attempt at satire.
Vanguard is expanding its ETF lineup with the introduction of the AlphaBet series of ETFs, an innovation in the ever-growing ETF space. Together these 26 portfolios, based on the initial letter of the ticker symbol of each company in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, provide investors with U.S. equity market beta building blocks by covering the index from A to Z.
http://vanguardadvisorsblog.com/2013/12/04/introducing-vanguards-new-alphabet-etfs/
How much alpha can you generate by spelling your name?
I tried W-E-S and earned an average of around 18% from 1994 to 2013.
Woohoo.
RAFI has some thoughts on the subject as well: http://www.researchaffiliates.com/Our%20Ideas/Insights/Fundamentals/Pages/F_2011_Nov_Alternative_Beta.aspx
About the Author: Wesley Gray, PhD
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