Scientific Beta

Eric Shirbini, Global Product Specialist at ERI Scientific Beta, will be speaking at this year's Global Indexing & ETFs conference organised by IMN in Scottsdale, Arizona on 7-9 December, 2014, which brings together the indexing, ETF and broader investment management community for three days of discussion and debate.

Dr. Shirbini will be moderating the session entitled "Smart Beta, Alternative Indices, and Factor Investing: Examining Labels in a Quickly Evolving Industry" on 8 December, which will examine the different definitions that fall under the title "Smart Beta" and the implications for how these indexes can be constructed and used:

Is there a single term to describe non-market cap weighted indexes?
What are the substantial differences between traditional, market cap weighted indices and new alternatives?
What will facilitate the migration of factor investing from institutional investors into the retail space?

He will also be participating as a panelist in the session on "Moving Beyond Cap-Weighted Index Funds to Leverage Market Inefficiencies", which will review non-market cap weighted indexes, also known as smart beta. Smart beta provides similar benefits to traditional indexes, such as low cost, high investment capacities, transparency, diversification, and broad market exposures while providing additional exposures into different market segments or other considerations. The session will focus on:

Understanding how fundamental indexes and other smart beta approaches may outperform market-cap indices
Examining the role of smart beta in portfolio construction and how it compliments market weighted indices
What do we consider smart beta, and what don't we?
Looking at more precise ways of getting exposure by managing factors, such as value, momentum, quality, and volatility
Evaluating the use of multi-factor smart beta products

ERI Scientific Beta is a sponsor of the event.