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Quality factors explaining returns on the FTSE/JSE All-Share

The research done on style 'anomalies' such as the book-to-market and the size effect have found that these idiosyncratic factor s explain returns better than Beta. These findings have led has to an increased importance of idiosyncratic factors in explaining returns, which is contrary to the popular...

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Main Author: Campbell, James
Other Authors: Van Rensburg, Paul
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Finance and Tax 2015
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access_status_str Open Access
author Campbell, James
author2 Van Rensburg, Paul
author_browse Campbell, James
Van Rensburg, Paul
author_facet Van Rensburg, Paul
Campbell, James
author_sort Campbell, James
collection Thesis
description The research done on style 'anomalies' such as the book-to-market and the size effect have found that these idiosyncratic factor s explain returns better than Beta. These findings have led has to an increased importance of idiosyncratic factors in explaining returns, which is contrary to the popular Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). CAPM only considers Beta or systematic risk in explaining returns and disregards idiosyncratic risk. This paper has an even greater focus on idiosyncratic factors, by testing company specific factors with no reference to market valuation. These are defined as 'quality' factors for the purposes of this paper. The paper done by Asness, Frazzini, and Pedersen (2013), found that quality stock s earned excess returns in 23 of the 24 countries that they tested. This paper followed a similar approach with respect to the definition of quality and tested whether these 'quality' factors have explanatory power on the FTSE/JSE All-Share. The explanatory power of the 'quality' factors are then combined and compared with some of the style 'anomalies'. The results found that nine of the quality factors from the single regression analysis, over the entire period from the 1st of January 1994 until the 1st of November 2014 were significant at a 95% level of confidence. The following 'quality' factors were found significant and are ranked according to the absolute t-statistics:: Accruals ratio (ACCRUALS), cash flow return on equity (CFROE), 12-month growth in earnings per share (EPS12M), 12-month growth in cash flow return on equity (CFROE12M), 24-month growth in cash flow return on equity (CFROE24M), 12-month growth in EBITDA margin (EBITDAMARG12M), 36-month growth in cash flow return on equity (CFROE36M), interest coverage before tax (ICBT), return on total capital (ROC). In the single regression results the ACCRUALS ratio ranked higher than the book-value-to-market and the earnings yield. The CFROE also exhibited a higher level of significance than the earnings yield. In the multiple regression analysis for all factors, the following factors which are ranked according to absolute t-statistics were found to be significant : book-value-to-market, cash flow return on equity (CFROE), 12-month growth in earnings per share (EPS12M), 18-month volatility in return on equity (ROEVOL18M) and the accruals ratio (ACCRUALS). Finally the cumulative payoff results are consistent with the results found in the regression analysis. In terms of cumulative payoff the ACCRUALS factor ranked first and the CFROE factor ranked fifth. The ACCRUALS and CFROE factors also had the highest and fifth highest Sharpe ratio respectively. A single 'quality' factor composite of the significant factors found may have an important role to play in asset pricing, due to the high explanatory power and stable positive relationship with returns on the FTSE/JSE All-Share.
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license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2015
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/15567 Quality factors explaining returns on the FTSE/JSE All-Share Campbell, James Van Rensburg, Paul Finance The research done on style 'anomalies' such as the book-to-market and the size effect have found that these idiosyncratic factor s explain returns better than Beta. These findings have led has to an increased importance of idiosyncratic factors in explaining returns, which is contrary to the popular Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM). CAPM only considers Beta or systematic risk in explaining returns and disregards idiosyncratic risk. This paper has an even greater focus on idiosyncratic factors, by testing company specific factors with no reference to market valuation. These are defined as 'quality' factors for the purposes of this paper. The paper done by Asness, Frazzini, and Pedersen (2013), found that quality stock s earned excess returns in 23 of the 24 countries that they tested. This paper followed a similar approach with respect to the definition of quality and tested whether these 'quality' factors have explanatory power on the FTSE/JSE All-Share. The explanatory power of the 'quality' factors are then combined and compared with some of the style 'anomalies'. The results found that nine of the quality factors from the single regression analysis, over the entire period from the 1st of January 1994 until the 1st of November 2014 were significant at a 95% level of confidence. The following 'quality' factors were found significant and are ranked according to the absolute t-statistics:: Accruals ratio (ACCRUALS), cash flow return on equity (CFROE), 12-month growth in earnings per share (EPS12M), 12-month growth in cash flow return on equity (CFROE12M), 24-month growth in cash flow return on equity (CFROE24M), 12-month growth in EBITDA margin (EBITDAMARG12M), 36-month growth in cash flow return on equity (CFROE36M), interest coverage before tax (ICBT), return on total capital (ROC). In the single regression results the ACCRUALS ratio ranked higher than the book-value-to-market and the earnings yield. The CFROE also exhibited a higher level of significance than the earnings yield. In the multiple regression analysis for all factors, the following factors which are ranked according to absolute t-statistics were found to be significant : book-value-to-market, cash flow return on equity (CFROE), 12-month growth in earnings per share (EPS12M), 18-month volatility in return on equity (ROEVOL18M) and the accruals ratio (ACCRUALS). Finally the cumulative payoff results are consistent with the results found in the regression analysis. In terms of cumulative payoff the ACCRUALS factor ranked first and the CFROE factor ranked fifth. The ACCRUALS and CFROE factors also had the highest and fifth highest Sharpe ratio respectively. A single 'quality' factor composite of the significant factors found may have an important role to play in asset pricing, due to the high explanatory power and stable positive relationship with returns on the FTSE/JSE All-Share. 2015-12-03T14:19:19Z 2015-12-03T14:19:19Z 2015 Master Thesis Masters MCom http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15567 eng application/pdf Department of Finance and Tax Faculty of Commerce University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Finance
Campbell, James
Quality factors explaining returns on the FTSE/JSE All-Share
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Quality factors explaining returns on the FTSE/JSE All-Share
title_full Quality factors explaining returns on the FTSE/JSE All-Share
title_fullStr Quality factors explaining returns on the FTSE/JSE All-Share
title_full_unstemmed Quality factors explaining returns on the FTSE/JSE All-Share
title_short Quality factors explaining returns on the FTSE/JSE All-Share
title_sort quality factors explaining returns on the ftse jse all share
topic Finance
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15567
work_keys_str_mv AT campbelljames qualityfactorsexplainingreturnsontheftsejseallshare