Asset pricing models: a comparison

We empirically test and compare the performance of the traditional capital asset pricing model (CAPM), the three-moment CAPM and the Fama-French (FF) three-factor model using the FF 25 portfolios data. Based on the time-series and the cross-sectional tests, the FF three-factor model outperforms the other models. In the cross-sectional tests, the three-moment CAPM has a higher R2 than CAPM but in the time-series regression, the performances of CAPM and the three-moment CAPM are comparable.