Smart Beta

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 volatility is central to the smart beta approach.

Total Assets under Management are up 11% vs. the end of 2016, reaching EUR 31.8 billion and including a positive market impact (+4.2%). Net New Assets into Smart Beta ETFs have already reached a quarter of the record high EUR7bn figure reached in 2016.

Quality is positive: it is about good companies that are efficient at managing their businesses profitably, creating shareholder value and being rewarded with above average returns. Yet, quality is not always easy to recognise or measure. Here are a few pointers for avoiding some common misconceptions and mistakes.

‘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 algorithm, right? And yet, for several decades, findings in behavioural psychology have cast doubt on this assumption.

All famous investors from Benjamin Graham to Warren Buffet have, first and foremost, been fervent advocates of value investing. Value can be assessed in very diverse ways and value investing can also suffer from some drawbacks. Here are a few pointers for understanding value and avoiding the most common misconceptions...