style analysis

Investors have a tendency to downplay interest rate sensitivity as a factor influencing equity products, with the assumption being that its effect must be negligible at most. One of a handful of exceptions to that assumption, however, is concern over the rate sensitivity of low volatility “smart beta” funds.

Continuing our exploration into the smart beta segment (Part 1, Part 2), in this third post we introduce a simple “IQ Test” that can help investors and managers measure the “smartness” of the increasing number of non-cap-weight rules-based products on the market.