We've covered momentum investing extensively over the years, to include 94 posts, a book on the subject, and numerous discussions on various podcast outlets. There are a few things one notices after thinking about a [...]
The Conservative Formula: Quantitative Investing made Easy Pim van Vliet and David Blitz A version of this paper can be found here. Want to read our summaries of academic finance papers? Check out our Academic Research Insight category. [...]
Trading costs are a hot topic these days. The topic has sparked investor attention because of the rise of systematic factor investing strategies available via the ETF structure. It seems as if everyone is a [...]
Here is a link to our podcast on Flirting with Models. Today I am speaking with Jack Vogel, co-CIO of boutique ETF issuer Alpha Architect. I’ve known Jack for some time now and was particularly [...]
As a native Philadelphian and huge basketball fan, I fully agree with the 76ers fan's rally cry -- Trust the Process. Even the players, such as Joel Embiid, have echoed the sentiment of the fans: [...]
In the past, we have examined the following two topics: (1) stock performance & the 52-week high and (2) the investment CAPM. When examining the performance of stocks relative to their respective 52-week high (highlighted [...]
We believe there are cause and effect relationships in the world -- and in investing -- that hold true over time. Many are common sense and easily observable - like fire creates smoke - while [...]
When it comes to trend following and/or time-series momentum research, we got ya covered! A few places to dig in: Evidence for Long-Term Trend-Following by Alpha Architect World's Longest Trend-Following backtest by Alpha Architect Diversification Benefits of [...]
There are now hundreds of factors in what John Cochrane famously called the “zoo of factors.” However, there are only a small number that meet the requirements for investment that my co-author, Andrew Berkin, and [...]
As evidenced by the image below, interest in momentum research has taken off since the original 1993 Jegadeesh and Titman paper: Source: "Two Centuries of Multi-Asset Momentum (Equities, Bonds, Currencies, Commodities, Sectors and Stocks)" [...]
Momentum is the tendency for assets that have performed well (poorly) in the recent past to continue to perform well (poorly) in the future, at least for a short period of time. In 1997, Mark [...]
Similar to some better-known factors like size and value, time-series momentum is a factor which has historically demonstrated above-average excess returns. Time-series momentum, also called trend momentum or trend-following, is measured by a portfolio which [...]
Wes asked that I contribute to the ongoing debates regarding the construction of value and momentum portfolios. There are three key research pieces on the topic, all with different viewpoints: Alpha Architect's take AQR's take [...]
J.P. Morgan researchers, Marko Kolanovic and Zhen Wei, produced an incredibly detailed report on all aspects of momentum (one of our favorite topics!) Here is a link to the report 188 pages of pure effort [...]
Momentum is the tendency for assets that have performed well (poorly) in the recent past to continue to perform well (poorly) in the future, at least for a short period of time. Initial research on [...]
Factor investing, and the associated intellectual battles, have raged for decades in academic finance journals. However, now that factor investing has gone mainstream via ETFs, the debate has broader interest among the investing public. Some investors [...]
On most mainstream finance websites, a good chunk of the stories discuss the FED and where interest rates are going. Intuitively, this makes sense: The FED is arguably an extremely influential component of U.S. economy. [...]
Replicating Anomalies is arguably a "must read" for anyone who thinks about factor investing and is looking to improve their understanding of the space. Lu Zhang, and his colleagues, Kewei Hou and Chen Xue, spent [...]
Value and Momentum Investing -- our two favorite factors. We talk about these phenomena on our blog all the time, and have given both rational and behavioral explanations as to why these may occur. However, very few in the finance community are direct investors into Value and Momentum securities -- the individual stocks (or bonds) themselves. Many use ETFs or mutual funds to gain access to these factors. Institutions generally do the same, either investing in hedge funds or managed accounts. This is delegated asset management, whereby one delegates the decision of the security selection onto a third-party manager. A by-product of delegation is that from time to time, the third-party manager must be assessed. While many may claim the process is most important, the performance is always taken into consideration. So what happens to a Value manager who is overweight the wrong industry? While the manager may be following the same process discussed ex-ante, the ex-post assessment may be that the manager needs to be fired due to underperformance.
Academic research is amazing and incredibly useful for helping us better understand the complex world in which we live. In fact, academic research has literally rewired my brain at times. However, research isn't perfect and [...]
