News & Research

The recent launch of the STOXX U.S. Equity Factor Index, which underlies the iShares U.S. Equity Factor ETF (LRGF), highlights the real-world performance benefits of a factor-based approach that seeks to manage risk relative to a capitalization-weighted benchmark.

This whitepaper evaluates two thematic investment strategies – STOXX® Global Ageing Population (“Ageing Population”) and STOXX® Global Millennials (“Millennials”) – which seek exposure to these two distinct generations.

In this paper we analyzed four tech-oriented thematic indices’ performance and risk through a factor lens leveraging Axioma’s Worldwide Fundamental Factor Model, and also compared their characteristics to the broad market indices.

STOXX Factor Indices are designed for investors who want to reap factor premia while avoiding the noise that pervades many other such products that allow undesired exposures.

The STOXX Factor Index suite is comprised of five single-factor indices and a multifactor index engineered to deliver the excess returns associated with each factor using a diversified index of securities with carefully managed exposure, liquidity and risk characteristics.

In this paper, we take a look at how minimum variance performed vis-à-vis its core market counterpart during nine recent geopolitical risk events. The nature of these events is that they tend to push correlations towards 1.0.

Minimum variance strategies have gained significant traction especially since the global financial crisis. They aim at reducing or minimizing variance, i.e. the square of volatility as measured by standard deviation, or, in this case, price fluctuations of portfolio prices around their mean.

Ever since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008, volatility has become a critical aspect for investors to consider, measure and position in their portfolios.