Quant Mashup - Investing Research They Can't All Be That Smart [Investing Research]Smart Beta is a label applied broadly to all factor-based investment strategies. In a recent WSJ article on Smart Beta, Yves Choueifaty, the CEO of Tobam, said There's a huge range of possibilities in the smart-beta world, and they can't all be that smart. This paper separates the factor(...) Factors are Not Commodities [Investing Research]The narrative of Smart Beta products is that factors are becoming an investment commodity. Factors are not commodities, but unique expressions of investment themes. One Value strategy can be very different from another, and can lead to very different results. There are many places that factor(...) The Risk of Low Volatility Strategies [Investing Research]Most factor-based, otherwise known as Smart Beta, ETF strategies are based on a single concept like value or momentum. Over the last two years, the largest flows have been to ETFs investing in low volatility stocks. The most popular being the iShares Edge MSCI Min Vol USA ETF (USMV), which as of(...) Buyback Bulls and Bears [Investing Research]A lot of attention has been paid to share repurchases recently, which makes sense given the amount of money involved. As of June 30th, 2016, there had been almost $450 billion net transferred from companies to shareholders over the trailing twelve months through repurchase programs, very close to(...) The Discipline of Value Investing [Investing Research]Value has a long history as an investing style, backed up by empirical evidence that portfolios of the cheapest stocks outperform the broad market. The strategy behind value investing is simple: buy stocks with a low price relative to their current financial metrics like earnings, EBITDA or cash(...) When is a "Value" Company not a Value? (h/t Abnormal Returns) [Investing Research]Value has broadly been accepted as an investing style, and historically portfolios formed on cheap valuations outperformed expensive portfolios. But value comes in many flavors, and the factors(s) you choose to measure cheapness can determine your long-term success. In particular, several operating(...)