Portable Alpha – What It Is, Where to Get It, and How to Use It
So much is being written about the emergence of Quantitative Funds and why this type of investment is becoming popular among both individual and professional investors. Eleanor Laise, in her Wall Street Journal article titled Stock-Picker Jobs Going to Computers wrote that investors are attracted to quant funds for their non-emotional, disciplined method of investing. It is a well known fact amongst investment professionals that investor psychology is the most difficult variable for anyone to manage. Our fear and greed most often get in the way of good judgment and a well thought out investment strategy. One method of developing a quantitative portfolio includes adding alpha to the investment screening process. Although the idea of alpha is thought to be complicated and only for the technically inclined, its available for any investor and now easier than ever to utilize. With this strategy readily accessible, it makes sense to build a portfolio of long-term investments and then augment the return by actively trading a portion of the portfolio using technical analysis and portfolio...