We develop a conditional factor model for the term structure of treasury bonds, which unifies non parametric curve estimation with cross-sectional asset pricing. Our factors correspond to the optimal non-parametric basis functions spanning the discount curve. They are investable portfolios...

We investigate the performance of non-linear return prediction models in the high complexity regime, i.e., when the number of model parameters exceeds the number of observations. We document a "virtue of complexity" in all asset classes that we study (US equities, international equities, bonds,...