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Alphas in disguise: A new approach to uncovering them

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  • Venkata Chinthalapati
  • Cesario Mateus
  • Natasa Todorovic

Abstract

Four‐factor Carhart alphas of passive indices should be zero, but recent empirical evidence shows otherwise. We propose an optimization algorithm that makes small (fixed) adjustments to the time series of the market, size, value, and momentum factors, which ensures a zero alpha for any (single) self‐designated benchmark index of a mutual fund. Our “adjusted factors” can then be used to estimate a mutual fund's “adjusted alpha.” We test this methodology on a sample of 1,281 active and 102 tracker U.S. equity mutual funds (reporting S&P 500 index as their prospectus benchmark). Our time series adjustment of the Carhart 4 factors leads to an increase (decrease) in a fund's “adjusted alpha” in periods of fund‐benchmark underperformance (outperformance). On the whole, our “adjusted alphas” of both active and tracker funds are statistically significantly negative. This is particularly pronounced for tracker funds.

Suggested Citation

  • Venkata Chinthalapati & Cesario Mateus & Natasa Todorovic, 2017. "Alphas in disguise: A new approach to uncovering them," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(3), pages 234-243, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:ijfiec:v:22:y:2017:i:3:p:234-243
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    Cited by:

    1. Golam Sarwar & Cesario Mateus & Natasa Todorovic, 2018. "US sector rotation with five-factor Fama–French alphas," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(2), pages 116-132, March.
    2. Irina Bezhentseva Mateus & Cesario Mateus & Natasa Todorovic, 2019. "Benchmark-adjusted performance of US equity mutual funds and the issue of prospectus benchmarks," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(1), pages 15-30, February.
    3. Cuthbertson, Keith & Nitzsche, Dirk & O'Sullivan, Niall, 2022. "Mutual fund performance persistence: Factor models and portfolio size," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    4. Kakran, Shubham & Sidhu, Arpit & Kumar, Ashish & Ben Youssef, Adel & Lohan, Sheenam, 2023. "Hydrogen energy in BRICS-US: A whirl succeeding fuel treasure," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    5. Cesario Mateus & Irina B. Mateus & Marco Soggiu, 2020. "Do smart beta ETFs deliver persistent performance?," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(5), pages 413-427, September.
    6. Cesario Mateus & Irina B. Mateus & Marco Soggiu, 0. "Do smart beta ETFs deliver persistent performance?," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-15.
    7. Mateus, Irina B. & Mateus, Cesario & Todorovic, Natasa, 2019. "Review of new trends in the literature on factor models and mutual fund performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 344-354.

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