Net cash alpha stocks
When I first started doing Asian quant factor research in the mid-1990s, I was surprised by how many companies had net cash on their...
top of page
Insights
Search
Nick Bird
Sep 18, 2021
Chinese 'H' share pricing anomalies
Let’s say you could buy a special class of shares in a company with a strong track record of growing revenue and paying dividends, at a...
Nick Bird
Sep 12, 2021
Mega caps; mega valuations
Based on close of trade data for 10 September 2021, the largest company in the world is Apple with a market capitalization of $US2.46T....
Nick Bird
Aug 28, 2021
A deep dive into our Chinese equities exposure
Recent regulatory changes in China have attracted a lot of attention from investors. Chinese equities have significantly underperformed...
Nick Bird
Aug 18, 2021
Finding a fixed interest alternative
Central banks are destroying fixed interest as an asset class. The cycle of interest rate cuts and quantitative easing has decimated...
Nick Bird
Aug 5, 2021
Absurd valuations; growth at any price
One of my favourite stock market quotes is from Scott McNealy, former CEO of Sun Microsystems. In April 2002, in a Bloomberg interview,...
Nick Bird
Aug 3, 2021
Are stop losses an appropriate risk control mechanism?
Since I started my career as a hedge fund manager, I’ve had countless investor meetings. Initially, most of the meetings were with...
Nick Bird
Jul 30, 2021
What is the optimal way for a market neutral quant factor fund to reach a volatility target?
Before answering this question, we need to consider why it is important. Headline performance if a function of return volatility. Without...
Nick Bird
Jul 15, 2021
Tech stocks & regulatory risks in China
Following Didi’s IPO in late June, regulatory risks in China have attracted a lot of attention. Almost immediately after the IPO, the...
Nick Bird
Jul 6, 2021
The scourge of asset price inflation
The last several years have been characterised by low consumer price inflation, which has resulted in ultra-easy monetary policy...
Nick Bird
Jul 6, 2021
The importance of short portfolio breadth
Breadth is a very important concept in quant factor investing. The Fundamental Law of Active Management states that risk-adjusted...
Nick Bird
May 31, 2021
Central bank market distortions. How do they affect the fund?
Central banks, especially the Fed, always influence financial markets. Recently, they have been distorting financial markets. ...
Nick Bird
May 31, 2021
Short-term value/growth gyrations
A tug of war is taking place between value and growth. Up until the start of this year, the winner was growth with the contest turning...
Nick Bird
Apr 30, 2021
Extreme market earnings multiples (except China/HK)
OQFM calculates market earnings multiples based on the inverse of aggregate stock earnings yields. The PE ratio is a flawed valuation...
Nick Bird
Apr 30, 2021
Making sense of ultra-cheap Chinese stocks
In this research note I will focus on several Chinese stocks which are unjustifiably cheap (Table 1). (Note: OQFM uses more sophisticated...
Nick Bird
Mar 31, 2021
BOJ changes share purchase rules (good news)
The BOJ announced in March that it would abandon its ¥6tn ($55bn) annual target for exchange traded fund purchases and cease buying ETFs...
Nick Bird
Mar 31, 2021
Rising bond yields are more likely to affect “long duration” stocks
Increasing bond yields were a key driver (and symptom) of risk sentiment in March. The 10 Year Treasury Yield – which attracted a lot of...
Nick Bird
Mar 31, 2021
Extreme value anomalies persist in Japan
When I first started to take a strong interest in the stock market in the mid-1980s, Japanese equities were the star performers. This...
Nick Bird
Mar 31, 2021
Assessing leverage risks
In March, Archegos Capital Management, a family office based in the United States, defaulted on margin calls from several investment...
Nick Bird
Feb 28, 2021
HK Government increases stamp duty
In late February, the HK Government announced that stamp duty on buys and sells on the HK Exchange will increase from 10 basis points to...
Nick Bird
Jan 31, 2021
No significant short squeeze contagion in Asia
In late January, there was an extremely concerning development that captured the attention of people who wouldn’t normally be interested...
Nick Bird
Jan 31, 2021
US investment sanctions generate liquidity distortions
In January, Donal Trump imposed sanctions on several Chinese stocks on the grounds that they have links to the Chinese Military. This...
bottom of page