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An Analysis of the Low-Volatility Anomaly on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange

The low-volatility anomaly can be described as the unexpected outperformance of low-volatility stocks compared to high-volatility stocks over the long-term. This dissertation investigates the low-volatility anomaly and its presence on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Possible reasons behind wh...

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Main Author: Harrisberg, Richard
Other Authors: Huang, Chun-Sung
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Finance and Tax 2020
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access_status_str Open Access
author Harrisberg, Richard
author2 Huang, Chun-Sung
author_browse Harrisberg, Richard
Huang, Chun-Sung
author_facet Huang, Chun-Sung
Harrisberg, Richard
author_sort Harrisberg, Richard
collection Thesis
description The low-volatility anomaly can be described as the unexpected outperformance of low-volatility stocks compared to high-volatility stocks over the long-term. This dissertation investigates the low-volatility anomaly and its presence on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Possible reasons behind why low-volatility stocks consistently outperform their high volatility counterparts, as well as their own expected return, over the long-term are discussed. This includes analysing how financial risk is measured and whether this plays a role in obscuring the expected risk-return relationship, in addition to other fundamental factors impacting expected returns. It is found that the low-volatility anomaly is present on the JSE and that using a number of different risk metrics does not significantly change where a stock is ranked on the risk spectrum. Additionally, including an interest rate exposure factor, a value factor and a momentum factor lowers the unexpected portion (Alpha) of the returns of low volatility stocks, at the same time as narrowing the gap between the unexpected performance of the lowest and highest volatility stocks.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
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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 2020
publishDateRange 2020
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publisher Department of Finance and Tax
publisherStr Department of Finance and Tax
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/31727 An Analysis of the Low-Volatility Anomaly on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Harrisberg, Richard Huang, Chun-Sung Volatility Alpha Expected Returns JSE Beta CAPM GARCH VaR The low-volatility anomaly can be described as the unexpected outperformance of low-volatility stocks compared to high-volatility stocks over the long-term. This dissertation investigates the low-volatility anomaly and its presence on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Possible reasons behind why low-volatility stocks consistently outperform their high volatility counterparts, as well as their own expected return, over the long-term are discussed. This includes analysing how financial risk is measured and whether this plays a role in obscuring the expected risk-return relationship, in addition to other fundamental factors impacting expected returns. It is found that the low-volatility anomaly is present on the JSE and that using a number of different risk metrics does not significantly change where a stock is ranked on the risk spectrum. Additionally, including an interest rate exposure factor, a value factor and a momentum factor lowers the unexpected portion (Alpha) of the returns of low volatility stocks, at the same time as narrowing the gap between the unexpected performance of the lowest and highest volatility stocks. 2020-04-30T08:07:24Z 2020-04-30T08:07:24Z 2019 2020-04-30T07:08:42Z Master Thesis Masters MCom https://hdl.handle.net/11427/31727 eng application/pdf Department of Finance and Tax Faculty of Commerce
spellingShingle Volatility
Alpha
Expected Returns
JSE
Beta
CAPM
GARCH
VaR
Harrisberg, Richard
An Analysis of the Low-Volatility Anomaly on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
thesis_degree_str Master's
title An Analysis of the Low-Volatility Anomaly on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
title_full An Analysis of the Low-Volatility Anomaly on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
title_fullStr An Analysis of the Low-Volatility Anomaly on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
title_full_unstemmed An Analysis of the Low-Volatility Anomaly on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
title_short An Analysis of the Low-Volatility Anomaly on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
title_sort analysis of the low volatility anomaly on the johannesburg stock exchange
topic Volatility
Alpha
Expected Returns
JSE
Beta
CAPM
GARCH
VaR
url https://hdl.handle.net/11427/31727
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