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Country, Sector or Style: What Matters Most When Constructing Global Equity Portfolios? An Empirical Investigation from 1990-2001

Author

Listed:
  • Foort HAMELINK,

    (Lombard Odier & Cie and Vrije Universiteit)

  • Hélène HARASTY

    (Lombard Odier & Cie)

  • Pierre HILLION

    (Insead (Singapore), Academic Advisor to Lombard Odier & Cie)

Abstract

Equity returns are believed to be strongly influenced by country, sector and style effects. A key issue is to be able to disentangle those various effects from one another. In particular, differences between country returns may simply reflect differences in the sector composition of country markets, which makes it clearly difficult to disassociate both effects. Similarly, from 1999-2001 the relative perfor-mance of Growth versus Value might be solely due to the striking performance of the Technology and Telecommunication sectors. For global equity portfolio man-agers, it is crucial to identify which factors offer the highest diversification benefits and return potential. We apply a multi-factor approach to estimate ”pure” coun-try, sector and style factor returns. Using data going back to 1990, we identify the major changes that have occurred in developed markets until 2001. Our various indicators clearly point out the growing influence of sector factors. However, coun-try effects remain important and there is no clear-cut evidence that sector factors dominate country factors. Style factors such as Growth, Value and Size also remain significant, even once sector and country effects are deduced. Finally, we show that momentum strategies based on sector returns offer substantial gains, while momen-tum strategies based on country returns do not. These findings suggest that, while diversification and return benefits from sector strategies have become substantial, managers should continue to monitor carefully country as well as style rewards and risks.

Suggested Citation

  • Foort HAMELINK, & Hélène HARASTY & Pierre HILLION, 2001. "Country, Sector or Style: What Matters Most When Constructing Global Equity Portfolios? An Empirical Investigation from 1990-2001," FAME Research Paper Series rp35, International Center for Financial Asset Management and Engineering.
  • Handle: RePEc:fam:rpseri:rp35
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Hamelink, F. & Hoesli, M., 2002. "What factors determine real estate security returns?," Serie Research Memoranda 0017, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    2. Maximilian Vermorken & Ariane Szafarz & Hugues Pirotte, 2008. "Sector classification through non-Gaussian similarity," Working Papers CEB 08-032.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    3. Foort Hamelink & Martin Hoesli, 2004. "What Factors Determine International Real Estate Security Returns?," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 32(3), pages 437-462, September.
    4. Faias, José A. & Ferreira, Miguel A., 2017. "Does institutional ownership matter for international stock return comovement?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 64-83.
    5. Joliet, Robert & Hubner, Georges, 2008. "Corporate international diversification and the cost of equity: European evidence," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 102-123, February.
    6. Marie-Paule Laurent, 2003. "Indices as diversification instruments in Europe," Working Papers CEB 03-004.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    7. Michel Beine & Pierre-Yves Preumont & Ariane Szafarz, 2006. "Sector diversification during crises: a European perspective," DULBEA Working Papers 06-07.RS, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Sergio M. Focardi & Frank J. Fabozzi, 2013. "Factor Uniqueness In The S&P 500 Universe: Can Proprietary Factors Exist?," International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance (IJTAF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(04), pages 1-20.
    9. Maximilian A M Vermorken, 2011. "GICS or ICB, how different is similar?," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 30-44, April.
    10. Huij, Joop & Derwall, Jeroen, 2011. "Global equity fund performance, portfolio concentration, and the fundamental law of active management," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 155-165, January.

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