Factor Investing

Do indexes time the market?

This paper shows there is a durable, stock-specific momentum component tied to how prices react to firm news around earnings dates. The result is a cleaner, lower-risk way to capture momentum without leaning so heavily on broad factor moves.

Taming the Anomaly Zoo: How Macroeconomic Forces Shape Market Returns

Success lies not in collecting exotic anomalies like rare zoo specimens, but in understanding the economic forces that drive sustainable return patterns. Focus on strategies with solid macroeconomic foundations, maintain healthy skepticism about new discoveries, and always account for implementation costs.

Where Factors Speak Loudest: Why Size Matters in Factor Investing

The size effect is alive and well, but it's more nuanced than we once thought. Rather than viewing it as a simple "small beats large" phenomenon, we should understand size as a critical dimension that shapes how effectively other investment factors perform.

Buy and “Hold On for Dear Life”? Think Again!

Today, phrases like “HODL” and “buy the dip” have become rallying cries for equity investors. But is this mindset always correct? Could there come a time when buying dips or holding at all costs turns out to be a mistake? To dig deeper, let’s look at insights from Michael Mauboussin and Dan Callahan’s recent paper, Drawdowns & Recoveries: Base Rates for Bottoms and Bounces, and consider what the evidence tells us about the nature of drawdowns and recoveries.

Thematic Investing: a Risk-Based Perspective

Candès, Hastie, Hogan, Kahn, Luo, and Spector develop a novel framework to measure whether thematic baskets capture real, coherent risks that matter for investors. Their findings challenge conventional risk models and highlight both the dangers and opportunities of betting on investment “themes.”

Equity duration and predictability

Equity duration has increased dramatically. As firms reinvest more and delay payouts to the future, asset prices become more sensitive to changes in expected returns rather than fundamentals.

Why the Last Few Minutes of Trading Might Matter More Than You Think

This paper reveals a striking pattern in U.S. stock markets: the prices of individual stocks often reverse direction at the very end of the trading day. Using high-frequency data, the authors find that the last few minutes—particularly the closing auction—are dominated by large institutional flows that cause temporary price pressure. This is followed by a reversal the next day.

How Many Stocks Should Be In Your Portfolio? A Practical Guide to Portfolio Construction

Diversification is the only free lunch in investing. If you’ve spent even a day exploring the world of finance, you’ve likely encountered this common truism. But chances are, you’ve also heard stories of someone turning a small stake into millions by going all-in on just one or two stocks. That contrast raises a natural question for many investors: how many stocks should I actually own in my portfolio? Too many stocks, and you might be leaving opportunities on the table. Too few and you risk losing your shirt! So how do we strike a balance?

Should Investors Combine or Separate Their Factor Exposures?

If you’re a factor investor, there will come a time where you will have to choose between mom and dad: Should you combine or separate your factor exposures? And make no mistake: You will have to make a decision! While there’s no right answer, the way you structure your portfolio can have significant implications for returns, costs, and even your own behavior as an investor. Let’s walk through the logic behind both approaches.

Insider Trading Increases Market Efficiency

The empirical research (for example, here, here, here and here) on insider trading demonstrates that insider transactions have significant predictive power for future stock returns [...]

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