The jury’s still out on ‘Smart Beta’

Article Excerpt

Traditionally, broad indexes, such as the TSX 60 or S&P 500, act as the benchmark for overall risk and return in their respective markets. However, these major indexes are market capitalization weighted. That means a few large stocks can dominate the index and stocks that rise in price are given increasingly large representation. “Smart beta” ETFs aim to offer an alternative to that weighting system. Rather than use market caps, they determine the weighting for their stocks by using a rules-based screening method. This seeks to rank stocks based on their volatility, liquidity, quality, value, size, price momentum and so on. The idea is that a more-efficient weighting system will lead to a better-performing index for the ETF to track. Time will tell whether these Smart Beta products perform better than the traditional products weighted by market capitalizations. capitalizations…