BLOG

How to Describe a Factor 

Factor Indexes , Factor Investing , Factors

How to define a factor? It’s a challenge for asset owners and wealth managers in evaluating how well factor products meet investment objectives. We found an improved and more robust measure can be formed by combining multiple descriptors. 

BLOG

Understanding the Industry-Momentum Factor 

Factor Investing , Risk Management , Global Investing

When COVID-19 first swept through global equity markets, many factors exhibited unprecedented performance swings. How could institutional investors interpret the industry-momentum factor’s moves in the context of the underlying market dynamics?

BLOG

Growth Without the Side Effects 

Factor Indexes , Factor Investing , Factors

Growth has sometimes been viewed as the opposite of value. By extending the concept of growth at a reasonable price, we were able to capture the growth premium without it being lost to unintended factor exposures.

BLOG

Corporate Bonds Through a Factor and ESG Lens 

ESG Research , Factor Indexes , Factor Investing , Factors , Fixed Income , Risk Management

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on how companies manage cash flows and liquidity. Bond investors face the possibility of increased leverage, rating downgrades and defaults. Can factors and ESG metrics shed light on these risks?

BLOG

Measuring Firms’ Remote-Workforce Abilities 

Factor Investing , Factors

It’s clear that some companies were better positioned to take advantage of a remote work environment than others. We built a hypothetical “remote-operation capacity” factor to seek to measure the effect on different firms.

BLOG

Factors in Focus: How Trendy Is Your Style Factor? 

Factor Investing , Risk Management

As markets rallied worldwide, investors took on high-beta exposure and rotated away from stocks with lower risk. The latest edition of Factors in Focus explores the details.

BLOG

Did Value-Factor Exposure Deliver for Value Funds? 

Factor Investing , Global Investing

Building on previous MSCI research into the nuanced performance of the value factor, including the impact of sectors and other style factors, we look at how exposure to value drove the performance of actively managed value funds.

BLOG

Short Interest Factor Performance in Times of Crisis 

Factors , Factor Investing

Given recent short interest factor performance, we asked: What has been the relationship between this factor and large market drawdowns? Were there changes in short selling during COVID-19? Did short-selling bans affect short interest factor performance?

BLOG

Outcome-Oriented Factor Investing with a ‘Barbell’ Approach 

Factor Indexes , Factor Investing , Global Investing

Though relatively new to wealth investors, index-based factor investing has some similarity to a high-conviction, outcome-oriented approach. We explore combining the two when seeking outcomes such as equity growth, yield enhancement and risk mitigation.

BLOG

How Hedge Funds Navigated the Start of COVID-19 Volatility 

Factor Investing , Factors , Risk Management

How did hedge funds navigate the initial volatility amid COVID-19? Though holdings information is limited, and delayed, we gained insights into their reaction by examining the change in hedge-fund portfolios between the end of January and end of February.