Is smart beta still smart under the lens of the diversification return?

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-1-2020

Abstract

The diversification return is known to explain a significant portion of portfolio growth rates. Separately, results from backtesting have created significant interest in smart beta portfolio strategies. Extant research shows that smart beta strategies outperform the passive value-weighted benchmark because of their implicit risk factor tilts, such as value and size. This article reexamines the performance of a subset of smart beta strategies, known as fundamental indexing, focusing on the diversification return. The authors demonstrate that the outperformance of these strategies is completely explained by the diversification returns embedded in the portfolio rebalancing inherent in all such strategies. Efficient factor tilts explain none of the outperformance.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Journal of Portfolio Management

First Page

29

Last Page

39

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