For many investors, passive investing can be a no-brainer and is suggested by many, especially those who think that the walk is random. However, it does not mean that the passive investors do not trade – the ETFs trade instead of them. The indexes that are being tracked are rebalanced to account for changes in the market cap, mergers, delistings, or IPOs. The novel research shows that it matters how the ETFs trade. Even though the differences are not that big, for a long-term horizon, the differences compound. For active traders, the paper shows that the rebalancing of the ETFs could be utilized by trading in advance.

Factor investors face numerous choices that do not end even after picking the set of factors. For instance, should they neutralize the factor exposure? If the investor pursues sector neutralization, does the decision depend on a particular factor? Or are the choices different for the long-only investor compared to the long-short investor? The research paper by Ehsani, Harvey, and Li (2021) answers these questions and provides investors with an interesting insight on this topic.

Since recessions and bear markets come hand in hand for several asset classes, recession predictions have always been the foremost concern. The yield curve slope, defined as the difference between long and short-term rates, is the leading indicator backed by numerous research papers. Hansen (2021) builds on this theorem, but the author improves the recession prediction by his empirical observation that the VIX index (index of implied equity volatility or fear index) and the slope co-move in counterclockwise cycles, which align with business cycles.