Insights

In-depth research and data-driven insights on quantitative finance, factor investing, risk, and ESG from the TEJ research team.

Trending

Editor's picks from our research desk.

Insights

Browse all articles by topic.

Tag: Factor Library
Factor Investing

Factor Research –  Tracking Smart Money Footprints via Foreign Institutional Concentration – QFII Part 1

Track QFII ‘smart money’ footprints in Taiwan large-cap stocks! Learn how the Foreign-Institutional Trading Concentration (conc_qfii) factor predicts returns.

2026.06.15 more
Factor Investing

Factor Strategy – Integrating Broker Consensus to Enhance Foreign Concentration Strategies – QFII Part 2

Boost your quantitative strategy with QFII concentration & broker consensus! Discover how the conc_qfii fusion strategy delivers a 30.12% annualized return in the Taiwan large-cap market.

2026.06.15 more
Factor Investing

Factor Strategy – Applying SIR to Strengthen Momentum Strategies in the Taiwan Market – SIR Part 2

This study examines whether incorporating the Short Interest Ratio (SIR) can improve the performance of a 52-week high momentum strategy in Taiwan. By comparing a baseline momentum model with two SIR-enhanced versions—one using SIR as a filter and another integrating it into a composite score—we find consistent gains in returns, lower volatility, and reduced drawdowns. The results show that SIR strengthens momentum strategies by identifying stocks under institutional short-selling pressure.

2025.12.08 more
Factor Investing

Factor Research – The SIR Short-Selling Factor: Extracting Negative Signals from Institutional Borrowing Activity – SIR Part 1

Taiwan’s short-selling signals are often misleading because the market operates under a dual-track system: retail investors short stocks through margin accounts, while institutional investors use securities borrowing and lending (SBL). Only SBL-based short selling reflects informed institutional sentiment, while margin shorting introduces noise. This study isolates SBL to construct the Short Interest Ratio (SIR) and evaluates its ability to predict cross-sectional returns and reveal size-dependent patterns in informed short-selling behavior.

2025.12.08 more
Factor Investing

Discovering Investment Factors through Point-in-Time Audited Financial Database

This study employs TEJ’s Point-in-Time Audited Financial Database to construct a composite factor for stock selection in Taiwan’s equity market. By preserving financial data exactly as available at each historical moment, the framework avoids look-ahead bias and ensures empirical reliability. We find that higher-ranked portfolios deliver significant short-term excess returns, while predictive power weakens over longer horizons. The results highlight the practical value of Point-in-Time financial data for quantitative factor investing and underscore its role in building replicable, data-driven investment strategies.

2025.10.07 more
Factor Investing

Factor Investing Explained: Types of Factors & Strategy Guide

Factor investing targets quantifiable characteristics to improve returns. Explores common factors (macroeconomic and style types) and strategies in our guide.

2025.08.20 more
Factor Investing

Factor Strategy – Capital Gain Overhang | Part 2 

In the previous study, we examined the Capital Gain Overhang (CGO) factor, designed to capture the behavioral bias known as the Disposition Effect. By measuring the gap between current market prices and investors’ average cost basis, CGO quantifies unrealized gains and losses at the market level. Empirical tests in Taiwan’s equity market confirmed that CGO is a meaningful predictor of future returns: high-CGO stocks consistently outperformed low-CGO stocks, generating significant positive alpha beyond standard Fama–French models, especially over medium- to long-term horizons.

2025.08.12 more
Factor Investing

Factor Research –Capital Gain Overhang | Part 1

The origins of the momentum anomaly have long been debated, with multiple competing explanations. Among them, one of the most influential behavioral interpretations attributes momentum to the Disposition Effect, a systematic bias in investor decision-making. This article focuses on the Capital Gain Overhang (CGO) factor, specifically designed to quantify this behavioral bias. Using the Taiwan equity market as a case study, we examine CGO’s predictive power as a stock selection indicator and evaluate its practical value through empirical analysis.

2025.08.12 more
Factor Investing

Factor Strategy – Idiosyncratic Volatility | Part 2 

Building on the statistical foundation presented in Part 1, this article explores how Idiosyncratic Volatility (IVOL) can be effectively applied in investment strategy design. We present two categories of approaches: a single-factor sorting model and a set of filter-enhanced momentum strategies. Through robust backtesting across two decades of Taiwan stock market data, we demonstrate how IVOL can improve risk-adjusted performance when used as a portfolio filter—especially when combined with momentum or dividend-based signals.

2025.05.28 more
Factor Investing

Factor Research – Idiosyncratic Volatility | Part 1

In recent years, the low-volatility anomaly has gained widespread attention for challenging traditional asset pricing theory. This article takes a closer look at one key driver behind the anomaly—Idiosyncratic Volatility (IVOL)—through a comprehensive analysis of the Taiwan stock market. Using point-in-time data from the TEJ Factor Library, we investigate the statistical behavior of IVOL, its relationship with stock characteristics, and its implications for cross-sectional return prediction.

2025.05.28 more