The Perpetual Hunt for ‘Alpha’

Listen to this episode from Merryn Talks Money on Spotify. All investors look for an edge. You only make real money by having “alpha,” as the jargon goes. On this week’s episode of Merryn Talks Money, host Merryn Somerset Webb is joined by a guest who knows all about the quest for advantage: Bloomberg Indices Quant Researcher Steve Hou. Put simply, Hou’s job is to find what “works” in markets and then find ways to capture it for investors. So what’s he been investigating? Recent topics include how to identify innovative companies and the role of research and development spending within that. It’s more complicated than you might expect.R&D:https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/insights/trading/the-innovation-factor-the-power-of-rd-persistence/Pricing Power:https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/insights/financial-services/cracking-the-code-of-pricing-power/ANR/Turnaround factor:https://www.bloomberg.com/professional/insights/trading/analyst-ratings-improvers-a-bet-on-turnaround-companies/AI whitepaper:https://situational-awareness.ai/  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.