Investment innovation at the intersection of technology, data and behavioral finance.
It's in our DNA.

Explore Our Firm
Perspective

The Long Run Is Lying to You

Everyone knows the value strategy has been a grave disappointment out-of-sample since, say, 1990, based on realized returns. However, odd as it might sound, the realized average return on a strategy is not necessarily the best estimate of its true long-term expected return. In fact, the right estimate of the true long-term expected return of the value strategy is considerably higher than many might think if they were to just look at simple past returns – especially right now. Why? I explain it in this note (spoiler: it has to do with changes in valuation).

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Journal Article

Can Machines "Learn" Finance?

Can Machines “Learn” Finance?” was named the winner of the 2020 Harry M. Markowitz Award. Machine learning for asset management faces a unique set of challenges that differ markedly from other domains where machine learning has excelled. We discuss a variety of beneficial use cases and potential pitfalls for machine learning in asset management, and emphasize the importance of economic theory and human expertise for achieving success through financial machine learning.

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Working Paper

Game On: Social Networks and Markets

This paper studies how echo-chamber effects and fake news can lead to disagreement and misinformation with effects on investors’ portfolios and market prices. It presents a model how an investment idea can propagate through a social network, generating a trading frenzy with high turnover, a bubble in the price, and high price volatility. The paper also presents empirical evidence on the dramatic events related to the GameStop stock in January 2021 and discusses broader economic implications.

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Our Approach

How we invest

Cliff's Perspectives

“Let's all be nicer to financial theory. If we stick with it long enough, it will probably be nice to us.”

Cliff Asness, Managing and Founding Principal

The Long Run Is Lying to You

Everyone knows the value strategy has been a grave disappointment out-of-sample since, say, 1990, based on realized returns. However, odd as it might sound, the realized average return on a strategy is not necessarily the best estimate of its true long-term expected return. In fact, the right estimate of the true long-term expected return of the value strategy is considerably higher than many might think if they were to just look at simple past returns – especially right now. Why? I explain it in this note (spoiler: it has to do with changes in valuation).

Read more
More from Cliff's Perspectives

Our History

From academia to industry leaders—AQR’s evolution over two decades

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Strategies

We offer a broad range of diversified strategies based on a unified set of underlying principles.

AQR is at the nexus of economics, behavioral finance, data, and technology. Our evolution has been a continuous exploration of what drives markets and how it can be applied to client portfolios.

Investors should conduct their own analysis and consult with professional advisors prior to making any investment decisions. Diversification does not eliminate the risk of experiencing investment loss. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Investment process is subject to change.