Scientific Beta

Financial Times: "EDHEC-Risk, the French research institute that is seeking to establish a presence as an index provider, points out that there are hurdles to the wider adoption of smart-beta strategies. EDHEC recently surveyed 128 investment managers with assets of $4.4tn and found evidence of concerns about the robustness of any outperformance by smart-beta strategies."

Financial Times 04/05/2014

"(...) The “smart beta” bandwagon appears to be gathering pace amid growing demand for innovative passive investment strategies to replace active management. (...) EDHEC-Risk, the French research institute that is seeking to establish a presence as an index provider, points out that there are hurdles to the wider adoption of smart-beta strategies. EDHEC recently surveyed 128 investment managers with assets of $4.4tn and found evidence of concerns about the robustness of any outperformance by smart-beta strategies. EDHEC also found that respondents cited worries about returns being affected by capacity limitations and high portfolio turnover. Fears regarding a shortage of independent research and a lack of information about the risks of smart-beta strategies were also highlighted. (...)"