Despite the market turbulence spawned by Covid-19, respondents to Invesco’s Global Factor Investing Study remain confident in factor investing over the long term.
According to the study — based on interviews with 238 different pension funds, insurers, sovereign investors, asset consultants, wealth managers and private banks around the world — 65% of respondents said factor strategies were meeting or exceeding their expectations.
Factor investment refers to the selection of securities based on certain characteristics, such as momentum or value.
Interviews for the survey were conducted in April and May. Invesco reported that “most investors surveyed were pleased to see factors behaving as expected during a turbulent period in global markets.”
Confidence was particularly high in value investing: only 5% of institutional investors and 16% of advisors expressed doubt that “value would perform over the full cycle,” Invesco reported.
The study also revealed growing confidence in applying factors to fixed income: 95% of respondents said factor strategies could be used in fixed income investments, compared to only 59% in 2018.
“The study finds a relatively high number of respondents either investing in fixed income via factors or considering introducing factors to their fixed income allocations,” Invesco said.
ETFs were the primary vehicle wealth managers used for gaining factor exposure, accounting for 75% of the average factor allocation. The majority of institutional investors now use ETFs, which account for an average of 14% of their factor portfolios, according to Invesco.
“Investors’ confidence in their factor allocations, even in the depths of the Covid-19 crisis, is a testament to both the growing appeal of factor allocations and investors’ commitment to long-term approaches,” Marcus Axthelm, Invesco’s director of factor investing, Americas, said in a statement.
For further details, see Invesco’s study.