Previous research provides evidence that much of the cross-sectional variation in equity returns can be explained by firm characteristics or sectors such as market capitalization, price-to-earnings ratios, change in operating earnings, and book-to-market ratios. One popular money management...

We propose a new investment strategy employing “factor funds” to systematically enhance the mean-variance efficiency of international diversification. Our approach is motivated by the increasing evidence that size (SMB), book-to-market (HML), and momentum (MOM) factors, along with the market...