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Factor Investing with Delays

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  • DICKERSON, Alexander
  • NOZAWA, Yoshio
  • ROBOTTI, Cesare

Abstract

We present a tractable framework for evaluating the cost of delays induced by infrequent trading in the corporate bond market. Using 341 corporate bond factors from OpenBondAssetPricing.com and machine learning models trained on their underlying signals, we demonstrate that, before transaction costs, 51 factors outperform the bond market. However, this number drops to nearly zero after accounting for trading frictions because the cost of delay is amplified for highly profitable factors. Trading a subset of liquid bonds does not eliminate this cost because liquidity is hard to predict and sales delays cannot be avoided, underscoring the critical impact of delay costs.

Suggested Citation

  • DICKERSON, Alexander & NOZAWA, Yoshio & ROBOTTI, Cesare, 2025. "Factor Investing with Delays," Discussion Paper Series 771, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    • Handle: RePEc:hit:hituec:771
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    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G13 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing

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