Scientific Beta

Benefits and Pensions Monitor: "Investors consider smart beta indices as tools for improving their investment process, says research from the EDHEC-Risk Institute. ‘Investor Perceptions about Smart Beta ETFs’ found 81 per cent think that smart beta indices avoid concentration in very few stocks or sectors and 79 per cent think that diversification across several weighting methodologies allows a reduction of risk and adds value."

Benefits and Pensions Monitor 04/10/2016

"(...) Investors consider smart beta indices as tools for improving their investment process, says research from the EDHEC-Risk Institute. ‘Investor Perceptions about Smart Beta ETFs’ found 81 per cent think that smart beta indices avoid concentration in very few stocks or sectors and 79 per cent think that diversification across several weighting methodologies allows a reduction of risk and adds value. Its survey also shows a high global rate of satisfaction (86 per cent) towards smart beta among ETF users with capturing factor premia the prime motivation for 87 per cent of respondents for investing in smart beta ETFs. Value, low volatility, and size factors are also considered as the most likely to be rewarded. However, despite this growing interest for smart beta products, investors allocate fewer resources to the assessment of smart beta when compared to the appraisal of active managers or the evaluation of cap-weighted-indices. While a quarter of full-time staff is dedicated to the evaluation of active managers, only 10 per cent of staff is dedicated for the evaluation of smart beta or systematic factor investments. (...)"