Scientific Beta

A series of presentations on factor investing that will examine a number of important issues to be considered in the field of factor investing for investment professionals. The seminars will discuss the evidence behind the existence of equity factor risk premia and outline some of the key issues for constructing multi-factor portfolios, additionally providing an overview of equity factor performance in 2022. 

Scientific Beta is organising a series of presentations on Factor Investing that will examine a number of important issues that need to be considered in the field of factor investing for investment professionals.

In response to the losses generated by traditional equity factors in 2019 and 2020, the industry has come up with new factors that have managed to outperform in recent backtests, such as sustainability, innovation, and machine learning factors. Chasing such short-term return trends will likely turn out to be futile for investors.

In contrast, decades of academic and empirical evidence have shown that securities earn their performance through exposure to multiple priced risk factor premia. An economic intuition for the existence of these premia exists and reflects the fact that a factor can be undesirable for the average investor since it leads to losses in bad times (when marginal utility of consumption is high). As a result, a positive risk premium is expected over the long-term to compensate for these risks. Therefore, it is worth investors focusing on accessing this set of equity factors while paying close attention to implementation and risk management.

At this Seminar Series, we will discuss the evidence behind the existence of equity factor risk premia and outline some of the key issues for constructing multi-factor portfolios. In addition, we will provide an overview of equity factor performance in 2022. Factor returns recovered in the wake of normalising market conditions in a manner that was consistent with their historical behaviour. In contrast to what some market observers believe, the recovery in factor performance was broad-based and not confined to a single factor such as value.

Investors who are interested in factor investing should find the discussion highly informative. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

Each presentation will cover the following topics:

Dates, Cities and Programmes

Tuesday, 20 June, 2023
Afternoon presentation in Paris (Renaissance Paris Vendôme Hotel, 4 rue du Mont Thabor, 75001 Paris, France)
[Register]

Thursday, 22 June, 2023
Lunch presentation in Frankfurt (Hilton Frankfurt, Hochstrasse 4, Frankfurt, Germany)
[Register]

Tuesday, 27 June, 2023

Breakfast presentation in Zurich (Widder Hotel, Rennweg 7, Zurich, Switzerland)
[Register]

Wednesday, 28 June, 2023
Lunch presentation in Geneva (Hotel President Wilson, Quai Wilson, Geneva 1201, Switzerland)
[Register]

Thursday, 29 June, 2023
Afternoon presentation in Munich (Vier Jahreszeiten Kempinski, Maximilianstrasse 17, Munich, Germany)
[Register]

Speaker

Dimitris Korovilas 

Dimitris Korovilas, PhD, is an Investment Specialist in the Business Development Division of Scientific Beta. Prior to joining Scientific Beta in 2019, he held a Vice President position in the Investment Strategies division of investment bank Citigroup. He has worked on a range of topics including equity factor indices, multi-asset risk premia, portfolio construction and volatility-based strategies. He holds a PhD in finance from the ICMA Centre, Henley Business School in the UK and a Master’s degree from the same school. His doctoral research has appeared in international academic journals.

Registration

Should you wish to attend any of these presentations, please use the above links or contact Séverine Cibelly at severine.cibelly@scientificbeta.com or on +33 493 187 863.

Attendance at these events is complimentary but registration is required.