Business Commons^™

New Factor Structure Models And Idiosyncratic Volatility, Ossama Elhadary

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I propose new factor structures that are based on the Fama-French style factors but include additional locations like the industry groups and the exchanges where the stocks are traded. I show that the stock returns are clustered around the industry groups and the exchanges. Idiosyncratic volatility calculated using the new factor structure models tend to be smaller than those calculated using the traditional Fama-French model. By sorting portfolios using the idiosyncratic volatility computed using the new factor models, a trader can gain larger profits compared to sorting the portfolio using the traditionally calculated idiosyncratic volatility.

Two Essays On The Low Volatility Anomaly, Timothy B. Riley

Theses and Dissertations--Finance and Quantitative Methods

I find the low volatility anomaly is present in all but the smallest of stocks. Portfolios can be formed on either total or idiosyncratic volatility to take advantage of this anomaly, but I show measures of idiosyncratic volatility are key. Standard risk-adjusted returns suggest that there is no low volatility anomaly from 1996 through 2011, but I find this result arises from model misspecification. Caution must be taken when analyzing high volatility stocks because their returns have a nonlinear relationship with momentum during market bubbles.

I then find that mutual funds with low return volatility in the prior year outperform …

Essays On Hedge Fund Replication: Methodological Assessment And Development Of The Factor Approach, Nonlinear Modeling And Policy Perspectives, Guillaume Weisang

2011

This dissertation is concerned with hedge fund replication, a subject of a practical and theoretical importance, both from an investment and a risk management point of view. One of our goals is to extend known methodologies in order to enhance our understanding of an industry that is known for its secrecy and its lack of transparency. A second goal is to contribute to the quantitative finance literature with improved techniques for hedge fund replication. Hedge fund replication (HFR) is approached from the methodological as well as from practical and regulatory perspectives. The first two chapters provide the motivation and the …