Combining Momentum, Value, and Quality for the Islamic Equity Portfolio: Multi-style Rotation Strategies using Augmented Black Litterman Factor Model

This study constructs active Islamic portfolios using a multi-style rotation strategy, derived from the three prominent styles, namely, momentum, value, and quality investing. We use the stocks that are consistently listed in the U.S. Dow Jones Islamic index for a sample period from 1996 to 2012. We also include two macroeconomic mimicking portfolios to capture the premiums of industrial production growth and inflation innovation, accommodating the economic regime shifts. Based on the information coefficients, we find the six-month momentum and the fractal measure as momentum factors; the enterprise yield (gross profit/TEV) and the book to market ratio as valuation factors; the gross profit to total assets, the return on capital, and the scaled total accruals as quality factors. We further construct active portfolios using the augmented Black Litterman (ABL) factor model to avoid the factor alignment problem, with the factor views predicted using Markov Switching VAR, MIDAS, and Bayesian Model Averaging. The out-of-sample performance of our portfolios can produce information ratios of 0.7 – 0.8 over the composite indices, and information ratios of 0.42 – 0.48 over the style indices, with the annualized alphas of 10 – 11%. Even when we put the constrained tracking error of 1% over the benchmark, our portfolios still produce information ratios of 0.9 – 1.2 before transaction costs, and 0.6 – 0.8 after transaction costs. We provide intuitive explanations for each premium changing over time, and suggest the promising strategy for Islamic equity investors to outperform the market

Combining Momentum, Value, and Quality for the Islamic Equity Portfolio: Multi-style Rotation Strategies using Augmented Black Litterman Factor Model

This study constructs active Islamic portfolios using a multi-style rotation strategy, derived from the three prominent styles, namely, momentum, value, and quality investing. We use the stocks that are consistently listed in the U.S. Dow Jones Islamic index for a sample period from 1996 to 2012. We also include two macroeconomic mimicking portfolios to capture the premiums of industrial production growth and inflation innovation, accommodating the economic regime shifts. Based on the information coefficients, we find the six-month momentum and the fractal measure as momentum factors; the enterprise yield (gross profit/TEV) and the book to market ratio as valuation factors; the gross profit to total assets, the return on capital, and the scaled total accruals as quality factors. We further construct active portfolios using the augmented Black Litterman (ABL) factor model to avoid the factor alignment problem, with the factor views predicted using Markov Switching VAR, MIDAS, and Bayesian Model Averaging. The out-of-sample performance of our portfolios can produce information ratios of 0.7 – 0.8 over the composite indices, and information ratios of 0.42 – 0.48 over the style indices, with the annualized alphas of 10 – 11%. Even when we put the constrained tracking error of 1% over the benchmark, our portfolios still produce information ratios of 0.9 – 1.2 before transaction costs, and 0.6 – 0.8 after transaction costs. We provide intuitive explanations for each premium changing over time, and suggest the promising strategy for Islamic equity investors to outperform the market

The Role of Islamic Asset Classes in the Diversified Portfolios: Mean Variance Spanning Test

This study investigates both conventional and Islamic investors’ problems as to whether the inclusion of Islamic and conventional asset classes may expand the frontier of their respective portfolios. Our sample covers the global U.S. portfolios and Malaysian portfolios with multiple asset classes, as well as the portfolios with a specific asset class in several regions. This study uses the recent mean-variance spanning test in multiple regimes, which not only accounts for tail risk but also identifies the source of value added (tangency portfolio or global minimum variance). For intra-asset allocation, our findings show that both Islamic and conventional fund managers of a specific asset class can benefit from conventional and Islamic asset classes, respectively, in several regimes. For inter-asset allocation, conventional institutional investors cannot obtain any value added from Islamic asset classes. On the contrary, the U.S. Islamic institutional investors can expand their tangency portfolio by investing in U.S. TIPSs and REITs, and reduce their global minimum variance by allocating on U.S. high-yield bonds. Moreover, the Malaysian Islamic institutional investors can obtain risk reduction by investing in conventional bonds only in the high term premium regime. For the remaining asset classes, the opportunity sets are sufficient for Islamic investors to invest complying with Shariah rules. We provide some policy implications for the global Islamic financial industry

The Role of Islamic Asset Classes in the Diversified Portfolios: Mean Variance Spanning Test

This study investigates both conventional and Islamic investors’ problems as to whether the inclusion of Islamic and conventional asset classes may expand the frontier of their respective portfolios. Our sample covers the global U.S. portfolios and Malaysian portfolios with multiple asset classes, as well as the portfolios with a specific asset class in several regions. This study uses the recent mean-variance spanning test in multiple regimes, which not only accounts for tail risk but also identifies the source of value added (tangency portfolio or global minimum variance). For intra-asset allocation, our findings show that both Islamic and conventional fund managers of a specific asset class can benefit from conventional and Islamic asset classes, respectively, in several regimes. For inter-asset allocation, conventional institutional investors cannot obtain any value added from Islamic asset classes. On the contrary, the U.S. Islamic institutional investors can expand their tangency portfolio by investing in U.S. TIPSs and REITs, and reduce their global minimum variance by allocating on U.S. high-yield bonds. Moreover, the Malaysian Islamic institutional investors can obtain risk reduction by investing in conventional bonds only in the high term premium regime. For the remaining asset classes, the opportunity sets are sufficient for Islamic investors to invest complying with Shariah rules. We provide some policy implications for the global Islamic financial industry

A fractional cointegration analysis of the long-run relationship between black and official foreign exchange rates: the case of the Brazilian cruzeiro

This paper applies a relatively new but generalized concept of fractional cointegration to shed some light on the validity of a long-run relationship between monthly black and official US dollar rates of the Brazilian cruzeiro. An investigation of the stochastic properties of these rates reveals that, while the relationship is not cointegrated in their logs, they appear to be fractionally cointegrated if we allow for mean reverting processes that are CI (1, d) with 0< d < 1. The paper demonstrates that relaxing the condition that the residual from the cointegration equation must be a I (0) process, captures a much wider class of mean-reversion behaviour. Furthermore, an analysis of the short-run dynamics propelling the long-run relationship tends to imply that although the official rate influences the changes in the black rate, this is purely over the short-run. In the longer term, the black rate is found to be the initial receptor of any exogenous shock to the equilibrium and it is the official exchange rate that bears the brunt of short-run adjustment to re-establish the long-run equilibrium relationship. The approach illustrated in this paper is shown to hold enormous potential for tests of mean reversion involving hypotheses popular to economic and financial research in general, where the dynamics of time-series data are under constant scrutiny.

A comparative analysis of the propagation of stock market fluctuations in alternative models of dynamic causal linkages

The patterns of dynamic linkages are examined among national stock prices of four Asian Newly Industrializing Countries stock markets - Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong - in models incorporating the established markets of Japan, USA, UK and Germany. Recent time-series techniques are employed, including unit root testing, multivariate cointegration, vector error-correction modelling (VECM), forecast error variance decomposition (VDC) and impulse response functions (IRFs). The results consistently appear to suggest the relatively leading role of all established markets in driving fluctuations in the NIC stock markets. In other words, all established markets and Hong Kong, consistently were the initial receptors of exogenous shocks to the (long-term) equilibrium relationships and the other NIC markets, particularly the Singaporean and Taiwanese markets had to bear most of the burden of short-run adjustment to re-establish the long-term equilibrium relationship. In comparison to all other NIC markets, Taiwan and Singapore appear as the most endogenous, with Taiwan providing evidence of its short-term vulnerability to shocks from the established markets.

An empirical analysis of the demand for commercial television advertising

The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical analysis of the demand for commercial television advertising in the Sydney metropolitan market as a case study using unpublished quarterly data. Though the focus of the paper is empirical in nature, prior to this a simple oligopolistic framework is used to examine the influence of competition on TV advertising prices. Particular attention is paid to justifying the use of both short-and long-run time-series modelling techniques in order to derive respective short-and long-run price elasticities of demand. Results seem to suggest that the price elasticity of demand is robust in terms of theoretical expectation in sign and statistical significance, but substantially less than unity in the short run, and neighbouring unity in the long-run. These results seem to be consistent with the findings of Cave and Swann (Report of Committee on Financing the BBC, 1986) and Tavakoli, Swann and Cave (mimeo, Brunel University, 1989) for the British TV market, but differ from those of Hendry (Journal of Policy Modeling 14 (3), 1992) who estimated much larger elasticities for the same market. Without digressing into welfare implications, we also discuss what implications our results would have for the TV industry if policy initiatives likely to expand advertising supply on commercial TV were implemented.

Does money cause prices, or the other way around?: Multi-country econometric evidence including error-correction modelling from South-east Asia

Attempts to look into the question of causality between money and prices in the context of international comparison in four South-east Asian developing countries, based on an improved methodology. Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines were used as case studies. Regarding the money-price causality direction, the study based on both bivariate and multivariate tests, tends to suggest strongly that in those four countries during much of the three decades since 1960, it was money supply that was the leading variable as the monetarists maintain and not the other way around as the structuralists maintain.Economic indicators, Economic theory, Money

A Fractional Cointegration Approach to Testing Mean Reversion Between Spot and Forward Exchange Rates: A Case of High Frequency Data with Low Frequency Dynamics

This paper applies a relatively new but generalised concept of fractional cointegration to shed some light on the validity of a long-run relationship between high frequency daily spot and the lagged forward Australian-US dollar exchange rate. An investigation of the stochastic properties of these rates reveals that, while the relationship is not cointegrated in their logs, they appear to be fractionally cointegrated if we allow for mean reverting processes that are "CI"(1, "d") with 0>"d">1. The paper demonstrates that relaxing the condition that the residual from the cointegration equation must be a "I"(0) process, captures a much wider class of mean-reversion behaviour. This result is interpreted in the context of the speculative EMH between the spot and forward exchanges rates, as having some empirical support. Furthermore, an analysis of the short-run dynamics propelling the long-run relationship tends to imply that in both the short- and long-term, the forward rate is led by the spot rate. In the longer term, the spot rate is found to be the initial receptor of any exogenous shock to the equilibrium and it is the forward exchange rate that bears the brunt of short-run adjustment to re-establish the long-run equilibrium relationship. The approach illustrated in this paper is shown to hold enormous potential for tests of mean reversion involving hypotheses popular to financial econometrics in general, where the dynamics of high frequency data are under scrutiny. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1998.