As we noted in Grover and Kizer [2016], the proliferation of style (or factor) investing has created a more complicated landscape for investors. It can be difficult for investors and their advisors to understand what style exposures a particular fund or strategy provides, whether the net expense...

The past several years have witnessed the introduction of hundreds of so-called “smart beta” equity indices. These indices provide exposure to risk factors, such as value or low volatility, in order to seek excess return and/or risk reduction compared to cap-weighted indices. Although the...

A popular interpretation of the Rational Expectations/Efficient Markets hypothesis states that, if the hypothesis holds, then market valuations must follow a random walk. This postulate has frequently been criticized on the basis of empirical evidence. Yet the assertion itself incurs what we...

A popular interpretation of the Rational Expectations/Efficient Markets hypothesis states that, if the hypothesis holds, then market valuations must follow a random walk. This postulate has frequently been criticized on the basis of empirical evidence. Yet the assertion itself incurs what we...

A popular interpretation of the Rational Expectations/Efficient Markets hypothesis states that, if it holds, market valuations must follow a random walk; hence, the hypothesis is frequently criticized on the basis of empirical evidence against such a prediction. Yet this reasoning incurs what we...

Profits can persist in the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm because of heterogeneity of inputs combined with resource immobility. The firm-efficiency interpretation of the RBV posits that heterogeneity in, for example, technology or know-how, leads to inter-firm efficiency differences which...