Launch of the "Advanced Factor & ESG Investing" Research Chair

EDHEC Business School and Scientific Beta have announced the launch of the “Advanced Factor & ESG Investing” research chair. The objectives of the chair are to contribute with strong academic research to, and to be able to participate in, the development of knowledge on factor investing and ESG, which are two subjects of strategic importance for the investment industry.

This chair will be co-directed by two senior EDHEC Business School professors, Professors Raman Uppal and Abraham Lioui, and two Scientific Beta directors, Dr Felix Goltz and Frederic Ducoulombier, who are respectively in charge of research and ESG ( Ethics, Social, Governance) within Scientific Beta. The chair is intended to host not only researchers from the two organisations, but also from other academic institutions.

Over the next three years, the Scientific Beta chair will address the following questions from a research perspective:

• Investability and factor crowding
• Questioning the ESG factor
• Factor premia regimes and the link between macro and micro factors
• Machine learning in factor investing
• How deep learning can improve the quality of ESG information
• Digital age, intangible investing and factor definitions
• New beta measurement methodology

The research chair will lead to:

• The production of research that will be published in tier-1 academic journals, and which as such will be a reference through both its scientific rigour and the non-vested nature of its results.
• The presentation of results in a format that is accessible to professionals in the form of the practical application of the research article, with the practical application itself being the subject of a webinar, and
• Participation in scientific conferences to present the research results. From 2020, an annual research chair conference will be held alternately in Europe and the US. This conference will be an opportunity to present the results and the ongoing research to professionals.

Commenting on the launch of the research chair, Professor Noël Amenc, CEO of Scientific Beta, said, “EDHEC, through EDHEC Risk Institute and Scientific Beta, has long been at the forefront of academic research in the area of passive investment and risk management. With the “Advanced Factor & ESG Investing” research chair, our aim is to continue to help the investment industry to benefit from the results of the highest level of research into factor and ESG investing. Independent from the research conducted by its own R&D teams, this scientific research also ensures that Scientific Beta has a long-term view of subjects that can influence its future offerings and participates in the necessary cognitive diversity of the factor and ESG investing approaches offered to our clients.”

On the EDHEC side, Abraham Lioui also explained “This new chair should foster EDHEC professors and researchers‘ achievements in the areas of factor investing and asset pricing”.