When it comes to asset returns, a factor is a variable or characteristic that has a correlation with the returns of individual assets. For instance, consider the role of inflation in the bond market. If inflation rises, bond prices generally fall, illustrating a factor’s influence.
Types of Factors
- Rewarded factors like size, value, momentum, and quality have been proven to be positively associated with a long-term return premium. For example, investing in small-cap stocks (size factor) has historically provided higher returns over the long term.
- Unrewarded Factors, have not been empirically proven to offer a persistent return premium. For instance, a company’s location might influence its stock price but doesn’t consistently lead to higher returns.
Factor-Based Strategy
A factor-based strategy is an investment approach that identifies key factors predictive of future stock returns and constructs a portfolio that leans towards such factors. For example, a strategy might focus on the momentum factor, buying stocks that have been consistently rising in price.
Research for New Factor Ideas
To uncover new factor ideas, analysts and portfolio managers often turn to a variety of sources including academic research, working papers, in-house studies, and external research conducted by entities like investment banks.
Performance of Traditional Style Factors
The performance of traditional style factors such as value or size can vary over time. For instance, value stocks may outperform in certain market conditions but underperform in others, reflecting their sensitivity to economic cycles.
Equity Style Rotation Strategies
Equity style rotation strategies, which are an essential component of factor investing, involve selecting securities based on attributes that are historically linked to superior returns. These strategies focus on key factors such as size, value, momentum, and quality:
- Performance of these factors can vary significantly across different market conditions. For example, growth stocks may perform well in bull markets, while value stocks tend to be more resilient in bear markets.
- Investments are allocated to baskets of stocks corresponding to these styles in an attempt to achieve positive excess returns over a market benchmark when a particular style is favored.
- While these strategies are applicable in both fundamental and quantitative investing, style rotation is predominantly utilized in quantitative strategies. Classifying securities into style categories not only requires statistical validation but must also be intuitively logical to avoid the pitfalls of data-mining.
The most crucial test for a factor is its intuitive appeal. A factor may pass rigorous statistical backtests, but if it lacks a logical justification—indicating why the factor should be effective—it may simply be a result of data-mining. Investors should be wary, as impressive performance in backtesting does not necessarily guarantee future success.
Hedged Portfolio Approach
Hedged Portfolio Approach was pioneered and formulated by Fama and French (1993).In the hedged portfolio approach, after choosing the factor to be scrutinized and ranking the investable stock universe by that factor, investors divide the universe into groups referred to as quantiles (typically quintiles or deciles) to form quantile portfolios. Stocks are either equally weighted or capitalization weighted within each quantile. A long/short hedged portfolio is typically formed by going long the best quantile and shorting the worst quantile. The performance of the hedged long/short portfolio is then tracked over time.
Drawbacks of the Hedged Portfolio Approach
- The information contained in the middle quantiles is not utilized, as only the top and bottom quantiles are used in forming the hedged portfolio.
- It is implicitly assumed that the relationship between the factor and future stock returns is linear (or at least monotonic), which may not be the case.
- Portfolios built using this approach tend to be concentrated, and if many managers use similar factors, the resulting portfolios will be concentrated in specific stocks.
- The hedged portfolio requires managers to short stocks. Shorting may not be possible in some markets and may be overly expensive in others.
- The hedged portfolio is not a “pure” factor portfolio because it has significant exposures to other risk factors.
Portfolio Management Strategies
Portfolio managers, like those at BlackRock, could modify the deciles used in the strategy if they anticipate the pattern to persist in the future. For investors interested in a long-only factor portfolio, a common method is to construct a factor-tilting portfolio. This type of portfolio closely tracks a benchmark index like the S&P 500 while also providing exposures to a chosen factor, making it similar to an enhanced indexing strategy.
Factor-Mimicking Portfolio (FMP)
An FMP is a theoretical long/short portfolio that is dollar neutral with a unit exposure to a chosen factor and no exposure to other factors. FMPs invest in almost every single stock, entering into long or short positions without considering short availability issues or transaction costs, making them expensive to trade. Managers typically construct the pure factor portfolio by adhering to the FMP theory but incorporating trading liquidity and short availability constraints.
Practice Questions
Question 1: In the process of developing new factor ideas, analysts and managers of portfolios that use factor strategies often rely on various sources of information. Which of the following is not typically a source of information for new factor ideas in the context of portfolio management?
- Academic research
- Working papers
- Public opinion polls
Answer: Choice C is correct.
Public opinion polls are not typically a source of information for new factor ideas in the context of portfolio management. Portfolio management is a professional field that relies on rigorous, data-driven research to identify and exploit factors that can drive investment returns. While public opinion can influence market sentiment and thus asset prices, it is not a reliable or consistent source of information for developing new factor ideas. Public opinion is highly variable and can be influenced by a wide range of factors, many of which have little to do with the fundamental value of an investment. Furthermore, public opinion is not typically subject to the same level of rigorous analysis and scrutiny as academic research or working papers, making it a less reliable source of information for investment decisions.
Choice A is incorrect. Academic research is a key source of information for new factor ideas in portfolio management. Academic researchers often conduct rigorous, data-driven studies to identify and test potential factors that can drive investment returns. These studies are typically subject to peer review, which helps to ensure their validity and reliability.
Choice B is incorrect. Working papers are another important source of information for new factor ideas in portfolio management. Working papers are preliminary versions of academic research papers that are often circulated to solicit feedback and comments before they are formally published. They can provide insights into the latest research trends and ideas in the field of portfolio management.
Question 2: Equity style rotation strategies are a subset of factor investing, which are based on the idea that different factors such as size, value, momentum, and quality perform differently in different time periods. The investment process allocates to stock baskets representing each of these styles when a particular style is expected to offer a positive excess return compared to the benchmark. In the context of equity style rotation strategies, which of the following statements is correct?
- Equity style rotation strategies are more common in fundamental investing than in quantitative investing.
- The classification of securities into style categories is highly standardized.
- Impressive performance in backtesting necessarily implies that the factor will continue to add value in the future.
Answer: Choice B is correct.
The classification of securities into style categories is highly standardized. This is because the factors used in equity style rotation strategies, such as size, value, momentum, and quality, are well-defined and widely accepted in the investment community. For example, size is typically measured by market capitalization, value is often assessed using price-to-book ratio or price-to-earnings ratio, momentum is usually determined by past price performance, and quality can be evaluated based on factors like profitability, leverage, and earnings stability. These factors are used to classify securities into different style categories, and this classification process is highly standardized to ensure consistency and comparability across different securities and portfolios. This standardization is crucial for the effective implementation of equity style rotation strategies, as it allows investors to accurately identify the styles that are expected to outperform and allocate their investments accordingly.
Choice A is incorrect. Equity style rotation strategies are not more common in fundamental investing than in quantitative investing. In fact, these strategies are typically associated with quantitative investing, which relies on mathematical models and statistical analysis to identify patterns and make investment decisions. Fundamental investing, on the other hand, involves analyzing a company’s financials, industry position, and market conditions to assess its intrinsic value. While fundamental analysis can incorporate elements of style investing, it does not typically involve the systematic rotation among different styles based on their expected performance.
Choice C is incorrect. Impressive performance in backtesting does not necessarily imply that the factor will continue to add value in the future. Backtesting involves applying a strategy to historical data to see how it would have performed in the past. While this can provide valuable insights, it is not a guarantee of future performance. Market conditions can change, and factors that were successful in the past may not necessarily be successful in the future. Therefore, investors should be cautious about relying too heavily on backtesting results when implementing equity style rotation strategies.
Glossary
- Rewarded factors: Factors that have been shown to be positively associated with a long-term return premium.
- Unrewarded factors: Factors that have not been empirically proven to offer a persistent return premium.
- Factor Investing: An investment approach that involves selecting securities based on attributes that are associated with higher returns.
- Hedged Portfolio: A portfolio that combines long and short positions to limit risk.
- Sharpe Ratio: A measure of risk-adjusted return, calculated as the excess return over the risk-free rate divided by the standard deviation of returns.
- Deciles: A method of splitting up a set of ranked data into 10 equally large subsections.
- Factor-tilting portfolio: A type of portfolio that closely tracks a benchmark index while also providing exposures to a chosen factor.
- Factor-Mimicking Portfolio (FMP): A theoretical long/short portfolio that is dollar neutral with a unit exposure to a chosen factor and no exposure to other factors.
Portfolio Management Pathway Volume 1: Learning Module 2: Active Equity Investing: Strategies; LOS 2(d): Analyze factor-based active strategies, including their rationale and associated processes