Using portfolios that are formed by directly sorting stocks based on their exposure to characteristics-based factors, earlier studies find that these beta-sorted portfolios have very large ex post factor beta spreads. However, the return spreads between high- and low-beta firms are typically...

We evaluate the performance of various methods for estimating factor returns in an approximate factor model. Differences across estimators are most pronounced when there is cross-sectional heteroskedasticity, or when cross-sectional sample sizes, n, are below 4,000 assets. Estimators...

Recent studies have proposed a large set of powerful characteristics-based factors in the stock market. This study examines the pricing of these factors using portfolios that are formed by directly sorting stocks based on their exposure to these factors. These beta-sorted portfolios have very...