The Incredible Structural Alpha

Andrew L. Berkin & Christine L. Wang

The Journal of Beta Investment Strategies2026https://doi.org/10.3905/jbis.2026.1.104article
AJG 1
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

Investors and academics expend great effort searching for alpha, or risk-adjusted excess return. We claim that alpha can be found in a more straightforward manner by thoughtful consideration of the factors driving returns and the portfolios designed from them. We show how this incredible structural alpha can be obtained from stronger factor exposure, more timely data and rebalancing, by taking other factors into consideration, by using multiple metrics to evaluate a factor, and from disciplined implementation. Size and value factors formed using these sources of structural alpha have higher and more persistent returns than the conventional Fama–French versions.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3905/jbis.2026.1.104

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@article{andrew2026,
  title        = {{The Incredible Structural Alpha}},
  author       = {Andrew L. Berkin & Christine L. Wang},
  journal      = {The Journal of Beta Investment Strategies},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3905/jbis.2026.1.104},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.