Hamish Preston is Associate Director, Global Research & Design, at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). Hamish is responsible for conceptualization, research and design covering global strategy, factor-based, alternative beta, and thematic equity indices. He is also a frequent contributor to financial media outlets.
Prior to joining Global Research & Design, Hamish worked in Index Investment Strategy at S&P DJI, where he provided research and commentary on the entire S&P DJI product set, including U.S. and global equities, commodities, fixed income, and economic indices.
Hamish holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics and graduated with distinction from the University of Birmingham with a master’s degree in financial economics. Hamish has also passed CFA Exam Level II.How much should a portfolio manager be willing to pay for research? This is a question any manager has to answer, but it has recently become more pertinent as newly imposed European rules require the costs of investment research to be unbundled from trading. Here is a brief overview of a stylized framework for estimating Read more […]
Small caps have a reputation among many market participants as being an inefficient asset class that lends itself to active management. But our S&P Indices Versus Active (SPIVA®) scorecards have repeatedly challenged this perception. Exhibit 1 shows that in 13 of the last 17 calendar year periods, the majority of actively managed, small-cap U.S. equity Read more […]
The S&P DJI index strategy team has for several years produced a variety of monthly and quarterly index dashboards. Earlier this year, we began to provide a daily summary of what S&P DJI indices and research are telling us about the markets on a day-to-day basis. (The summary is e-mailed daily to subscribers; see the Read more […]
We recently hosted a webinar examining the potential value in a sector-based approach to portfolio construction, their application in navigating different market environments, and some key considerations for those adopting sector-based strategies. You can view a replay of the event here; a few highlights might whet the appetite… The Global Importance of U.S Equity Sectors Read more […]
The world’s most prestigious cycling race, the Tour de France, begins tomorrow. The tour lasts three weeks and comprises a series of one-day stages. Although the main prize – the yellow jersey – is awarded to the rider that takes the minimum amount of time to complete the entire tour, there are plenty of races Read more […]
The last few days have been a feast of entertainment for the sporting enthusiast; the Champions League Final, the Monaco Grand Prix, and the NBA Conference Finals were all on the menu. While the sports represented are distinct, these events have something notable in common: the persistence of their participants. The same two teams reached Read more […]
S&P Dow Jones Indices recently launched the S&P Japan 500 Equal Weight Index, an equal-weight version of the S&P Japan 500. Over the 15-year period ending in February 2018, encompassing the latter part of Japan’s so-called “lost decades” of stagnant equity returns, the equal-weight index would have outperformed the cap-weighted Japanese equity benchmark by a stonking Read more […]
Global equity markets experienced a challenging February. A U.S.-led selloff triggered a spike in volatility; the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) recorded its largest ever daily increase on February 5 to reach its highest level since August 2015. But is higher volatility here to stay? Towards the end of last year, we published a paper – Read more […]
Our recent paper explores the characteristics and applications of equal-weight indices from various standpoints. Since a number of equal-weight indices have outperformed their corresponding cap-weighted parents over the past 15 years, one of the most interesting perspectives asks if factors can help to explain the excess returns of equal weight. Which factors are most relevant? Read more […]
We recently updated our S&P Europe 350 Factor Dashboard, which shows the factor exposures of a number of our European indices (interested parties can sign up here). Here are some highlights from our year-end report. Little separated the returns to European core factor indices, but all outperformed While the extremely low stock-level dispersion contributed to Read more […]