This week, we speak with Cliff Asness, co-founder and managing partner at AQR Capital Management. The firm has ~$100 billion in assets under management. An active researcher, Asness contributes to numerous publications and has received a variety of accolades, including the James R. Vertin Award from CFA Institute in recognition of his lifetime contribution to research. Asness earned his master’s in business administration as well as his Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago.
He explains how the firm is only “half hedge fund,” as they employ over 40 different quantitative, many of which are specific investments based on their quantitative research. That multi-strategy approach works well when markets go through long periods where value underperforms. Specifically, when Value doesn’t work, strategies like profitability, fundamental momentum, and low-risk work when Value as an investment style did not. Over that period, expensive companies outperformed not on price but because
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