For one, if you look at interim periods,
the outperformance of small cap stocks is not so clear.
Not exact matches
Digging further into the
outperformance of HML
SMALL during this period, the study's authors note that the HML alpha can be tied more to horrible performance by the low - value
small cap stocks for the period instead
of great performance by the high - value
stocks.
More importantly, the
outperformance of value
stocks relative to growth
stocks is significantly larger for the strategies executed in
small -
cap stocks.
On the efficiency side
of the debate, the
outperformance is generally explained by the excess risk that value and
small -
cap stocks face as a result
of their higher cost
of capital and greater business risk.
Based on the historical back and forth
of small and large
cap performance, Bogel questions whether the evidence
of consistent and long - term
outperformance of one size
of stock over another is real, and more importantly predictable for the future.
Value
stocks»
outperformance is even more pronounced for
small and mid
cap companies, because they tend to trade at even bigger discounts due to illiquidity and lack
of analyst coverage, as well as being able to achieve higher growth rates than larger companies.
Some investors argue that the historical
outperformance of small -
cap and value
stocks is (mostly) a market inefficiency that we shouldn't expect to persist now that it's so well known.
Wes thinks that the
outperformance of the Magic Formula is due to
small cap stocks, which he tests in a second post «Magic Formula and Small Caps — The Missing Link?&r
small cap stocks, which he tests in a second post «Magic Formula and
Small Caps — The Missing Link?&r
Small Caps — The Missing Link?»
So the Magic Formula generates alpha, and beats the market globally, but not by as much as Greenblatt found originally, and much
of the
outperformance may be due to
small cap stocks.
International
small cap active managers that target companies with positive earnings may benefit from the historical
outperformance of these
stocks
For these
small -
cap stocks I have a fixed holding period
of 5 years because that seems to be the time horizon over which the most
outperformance can be had for the
smallest amount
of effort.
In 1992, the Fama - French three factor model (market risk, size and value) found that both the size (
small vs large
cap) and book - to - market equity (value vs growth) factors deliver a higher risk - adjusted return in NYSE
stocks, and thus the model adjusts for the
outperformance of size and value when valuing a
stock.