Scientific Beta

This webinar presents Scientific Beta's equity inflation indices, the first in a series of targeted macroeconomic factor indices. The objective of these indices is to provide long-term equity performance with additional inflation protection compared to a traditional cap-weighted index. As a result, these indices are ideal candidates to replace cap-weight indices for investors with inflation fears and as equity components of a multi-asset portfolio that requires insulation against inflation shocks.

Felix Goltz, PhD, Research Director, and Eric Shirbini, PhD, Global Research and Investment Solutions Director, at Scientific Beta, are hosting an IPE webcast entitled "Positioning Your Equity Portfolio to Benefit from Rising Inflation" on 8 July, 2021 at 2.00 pm BST / 3.00 pm CEST.

As the economy opens up and stimulus spending commences, the market is concerned about inflation fears. Using TIPS to aim for full hedging of inflation would have a high opportunity cost, especially with negative interest rates. Instead, investors can turn to their performance-seeking portfolio for long-run inflation protection. Equities are a natural candidate for this, since unlike commodities, they offer a positive long-term risk premium. 

Currently, there are no passive equity products that provide exposure to macroeconomic risks such as inflation in a systematic fashion. We aim to fill this gap by developing indices for targeted macroeconomic exposure. 

In this webinar, we present our equity inflation indices, the first in a series of targeted macroeconomic factor indices from Scientific Beta. The objective of these indices is to provide long-term equity performance with additional inflation protection compared to a traditional cap-weighted index. As a result, these indices are ideal candidates to replace cap-weight indices for investors with inflation fears and as equity components of a multi-asset portfolio that requires insulation against inflation shocks.

The webcast, moderated by Brendan Maton of IPE, will examine the following topics: 

• Reliable measurement of macroeconomic exposure (role of robust statistics and forward-looking information)
• Equity portfolios dedicated to inflation lead to stronger targeted inflation-surprise exposures compared to a factor or sector allocation approach
• Inflation indices can protect against future inflation shocks while earning the long-term equity risk premium
• Comparison of the conditional performance of equity inflation strategies with that of other asset classes

Felix Goltz, PhD, is Research Director at Scientific Beta. He carries out research in empirical finance and asset allocation, with a focus on alternative investments and indexing strategies. His work has appeared in various international academic and practitioner journals and handbooks. He obtained a PhD in finance from the University of  Nice  Sophia-Antipolis  after  studying  economics  and  business  administration  at the University of Bayreuth and EDHEC Business School.

Eric Shirbini, PhD, is Global Research and Investment Solutions Director with Scientific Beta. Prior to joining Scientific Beta in 2011, Eric worked for close to twenty years as a quantitative analyst for investment banks including UBS, BNP Paribas and Nomura International. During this time, he worked on a diverse range of topics including multi-factor models, fundamental stock valuation, equity market indices, portfolio construction and portfolio trading. At Nomura International, he served as Director of Quantitative Research and at BNP Paribas, he managed a team of analysts who were responsible for the Global Equity Research Database. He has also served for over twenty years on index management committees. He holds a B.Sc. and a Ph.D. from University College London and an MBA from CASS Business School.