Capital at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. You may not get back the amount originally invested.
Digging deep:
Can big data help build better portfolios?
As investment returns become more commoditised, there is a need to find innovative ways to produce alpha. This is what BlackRock aims to do with big data by exposing portfolios to different sources of return across its Advantage range.
Which signals make the cut in the investment process?
BlackRock asks the same questions traditional fund managers ask when looking for stocks to invest in; the focus stays on macro themes, market sentiment and company fundamentals.
However, new tools and alternative data are put in place to explore new opportunities.
Data sources used by the BlackRock’s Systematic Active Equity (SAE) team include: financial blogs, booking trends, company disclosures, transaction data, corporate activity, growth rates and currency movements.
What type of stocks does the team aim to invest in?
How does the Systematic Active Equity team invest?
BlackRock analyses 3 terabytes of data every day looking at 10,000 companies worldwide:
The process seeks to analyse a rich information set across 15,000+ global equities on a daily basis.
How is BlackRock’s range different from smart beta?
The BlackRock Advantage range is not to be confused with smart beta, which relies heavily on the exposure to specific factors such as quality, momentum or value.
Instead, the six-fund Advantage range sits in the “systematic alpha” spectrum; an active approach applying investment insights and technology with an aim to deliver returns over and above those generic factors.
The range also acts as a controlled active risk strategy moving away from the traditional index or alpha risk allocation. In portfolios, the funds work alongside indexed products but aims to deliver a 1 to 2% outperformance.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product or strategy.
Where does BlackRock Advantage fit in the investment spectrum?
Team efforts
Blackrock’s 30+ years’ experience of data-driven
insights and proprietary research
- SAE one of the pioneers of quantitative investing counting on 30 and more years’ experience of proprietary research and advanced data analytics. Team includes more than 80 people
- Research-driven process that blends investment insight with cutting-edge technology
- Process includes responsible investing screening