A typical analysis of hedge fund crowding surveys popular equity holdings. Yet, such residual, idiosyncratic, or stock-specific bets account for only 31% of current hedge fund crowding. Factor (systematic) risk, rather than a few specific stocks, is driving absolute and relative returns. Consequently, most analysis of hedge fund crowding focuses on a small fraction of crowding, missing its bulk.

Nearly 70% of the hedge fund industry’s long equity risk comes from factor crowding. Market exposure (high Beta) constitutes half of that – more than all the remaining factor bets and more than all the stock-specific bets combined. Since the consensus factor exposures can be obtained cheaply via ETFs and do not warrant the same compensation as idiosyncratic insights, it is vital for investors and allocators to understand and manage these crowded exposures. In addition, crowded factor bets are vulnerable to damaging liquidations.  This article reviews hedge fund long equity bets at the end of 2016 and focuses on the dominant systematic exposures that will have the largest impact on investor performance.

Identifying Hedge Fund Crowding

This article follows the approach of our earlier studies of hedge fund crowding: We started with a 10-year survivorship-free database of SEC filings by over 1,000 U.S. hedge funds. This database contains all funds that had long U.S. assets in excess of $100 million and sufficiently low turnover to be analyzable from their filings. We then combined all fund portfolios into a single position-weighted portfolio (HF Aggregate). The analysis of HF Aggregate’s risk relative to the U.S. Market revealed its main active bets. The AlphaBetaWorks (ABW) Statistical Equity Risk Model – an effective predictor of future risk – identified and quantified these crowded exposures driving HF Aggregate’s performance.

Hedge Fund Industry’s Risk

The 12/31/2016 HF Aggregate had 2.7% estimated future volatility (tracking error) relative to the U.S. Market. Approximately a third of this tracking error was due to residual crowding, and the remaining two thirds  was due to factor crowding:

Components of the Relative Risk for U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate in Q4 2016

The low 1.5% residual volatility, less than a third of the total, illustrates the challenges of hedge fund crowding analysis that focuses on the popular holdings and position overlap. Such stock-specific view overlooks the two thirds of crowding that is due to factors – a fatal flaw. As a result, simplistic analysis of popular holdings and of position overlap fosters dangerous complacency when funds with no shared positions correlate highly due to similar factor exposures.

Hedge Fund Factor (Systematic) Crowding

The following chart illustrates the main sources of factor risk. HF Aggregate’s factor exposures are in red. The U.S. Market’s (defined as the iShares Russell 3000 ETF (IWV) Benchmark) is in gray:

Significant Absolute and Residual Factor Exposures of U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate in Q4 2016

The dominant bet of hedge funds’ long equity portfolios is Market (high Beta). The most crowded hedge fund bet is thus not a particular stock, but high overall market risk. HF Aggregate thus partially behaves like a leveraged market ETF, outperforming during bullish regimes and underperforming during bearish ones.

Factors Contributing Most to Relative Factor Variance of U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate in Q4 2016

(Relative exposures and relative variance contribution. All values are in %. Volatility is annualized.)

Hedge funds’ Market Factor crowding accounts for more risk than all their stock-specific bets combined. This dominance of a single systematic risk illustrates how asset managers’ and allocators’ endurance increasingly depends on their grasp of systematic crowding. It also illustrates the dangers of fixation on individual holdings.

HF Aggregate’s exposures to Market, Health Care, and Bond Factors remained near record levels reached recently. We analyze these in their order of importance below.

Hedge Fund U.S. Market Factor (Beta) Crowding

Hedge Fund Aggregates’ U.S. Market exposure decreased slightly from the mid-2016 record level:

U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate’s U.S. Market Factor Exposure History

Even following this decrease in risk, the average dollar of hedge fund long U.S. equity capital carries approximately 20% more market risk than S&P 500. Thus, hedge fund portfolios move in concert with the market, but with heightened sensitivity to it. Consequently, simple comparison of hedge fund returns to broad equity benchmarks and identification of nominal outperformance with alpha remain dangerous. Further, simple equation of capital invested in (dollar exposures to) a market or sector with actual portfolio risk remains flawed.

Hedge Fund Health Care Crowding

Hedge Fund Aggregates’ Health Care exposure also decreased sharply from its 2016 record:

U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate’s U.S. Health Care Factor Exposure History

Even after this decrease, HF Aggregate continues to carry almost twice the Health Care exposure of the Market. The Health Care Factor remains the second most significant hedge fund long equity bet.

Hedge Fund Short Bonds/Long Interest Rates Factor Crowding
HF Aggregate’s Short Bonds/Long Interest Rates Factor exposure was profitable in late-2016. This exposure decreased by half in the second half of the year, following the election catalyst:

U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate’s U.S. Long Bonds/Short Interest Rates Factor Exposure History

Short bond exposure is a natural consequence of hedge funds’ interest in “cheap call options”, often highly financially leveraged companies with asymmetric profit and loss potential. We discussed the fundamental sources of this Bonds/Interest Rates Factor exposure in more detail in a prior article.

Hedge Fund Residual (Idiosyncratic) Crowding

The remaining third of hedge fund crowding on 12/31/2016 was due to residual (idiosyncratic, stock-specific) risk. Though this is a minor component of the total crowding, we survey it for completeness and to facilitate comparisons with the basic surveys of crowding found elsewhere:

Stocks Contributing Most to Relative Residual Variance of U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate in Q4 2016

(Relative exposures and relative variance contribution. All values are in %. Volatility is annualized.)

Though these exposures are sensitive to asset flows, they generally constitute minor risks within the crowded portfolios. While systematic hedge fund crowding continues to dominate, investors and allocators should focus on the factor exposures. Without a firm grasp of factor crowding, a supposedly diversified hedge fund portfolio may be charging high active management fees for what is effectively a leveraged ETF book.

Summary

• Factor (systematic) exposures and risks shared across stocks, rather than individual positions, are driving hedge fund industry’s long equity risk. Exposure to these crowded bets can be obtained much more cheaply via ETFs and other passive products.
• The main sources of Q4 2016 hedge fund crowding were long U.S. Market (high Beta), long Health Care, and short Bonds/long Interest Rates Factor exposures.
• Without a robust analysis of factor and residual crowding, a hedge fund investor, follower, or allocator may be investing in a generic passive factor portfolio, likely with leverage.

The information herein is not represented or warranted to be accurate, correct, complete or timely.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Copyright © 2012-2017, AlphaBetaWorks, a division of Alpha Beta Analytics, LLC. All rights reserved.
Content may not be republished without express written consent.

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Whereas most analysis of hedge fund crowding focuses on individual stocks, over 85% of hedge funds’ recent long equity variance has been due to their factor (systematic) risk. Residual, idiosyncratic, or stock-specific bets accounted for less than 15%. Thus, factor crowding has dominated hedge fund industry’s absolute and relative returns. This article reviews the most crowded hedge fund long equity bets at 9/30/2016.

Understanding and quantifying this factor crowding is vital for hedge fund investors and allocators: Factor exposures that are shared by the entire hedge fund industry and that can be obtained cheaply with passive funds do not warrant the same compensation as the distinctive insights of gifted managers. Even worse, crowded bets expose investors to damaging stampedes during liquidations.

Identifying Hedge Fund Crowding

This article’s approach follows our earlier studies of hedge fund crowding: We started with a 10-year survivorship-free dataset of SEC filings by over 1,000 hedge funds. We then created a position-weighted portfolio (HF Aggregate) comprising all hedge fund long U.S. equity portfolios that can examined using the filings. We analyzed HF Aggregate’s risk and its historical exposures relative to the U.S. Market. The top contributors to hedge fund industry’s relative risk are the industry’s most crowded bets. Factor exposures were analyzed using the AlphaBetaWorks (ABW) Statistical Equity Risk Model – an effective predictor of future risk.

Hedge Fund Industry’s Risk

The 9/30/2016 HF Aggregate had 3.9% estimated future volatility (tracking error) relative to the U.S. Market. Less than 20% of this risk came from individual stocks, or from stock-specific crowding; the remainder – more than 80% – came from factor (systematic) crowding:

Components of the Relative Risk for U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate in Q3 2016

Since residual risk accounts for just 18% of the total, basic analysis of hedge fund crowding that examines popular holdings and position overlap is misguided. Such stock-specific analysis of crowding covers less than 20% of the industry’s risk, overlooking the dominant 80% of hedge fund crowding that is due to factors – a fatal flaw. Even funds with no shared positions correlate highly when they have similar factor exposures, so simplistic analysis of popular holdings and of position overlap understates portfolio risk and fosters complacency.

Hedge Fund Factor (Systematic) Crowding

Below are HF Aggregate’s principal factor exposures (in red). The U.S. Market, defined as the iShares Russell 3000 ETF (IWV) is the Benchmark (in gray). These factors are the primary sources of risk in the table above:

Significant Absolute and Residual Factor Exposures of U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate in Q3 2016

The dominant bet of hedge funds’ long equity portfolios is Market (high Beta):

Factors Contributing Most to Relative Factor Variance of U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate in Q3 2016

(Relative exposures and relative variance contribution. All values are in %. Volatility is annualized.)

This high U.S. Market exposure alone is twice as influential as all the stock-specific bets combined. Given this importance of factor crowding compared to residual crowding, popular fascination with fund holdings and position overlap is especially dangerous. Asset managers’ and allocators’ endurance thus depends increasingly on their edge in assessing systematic crowding.

Hedge Fund Short Bonds/Long Interest Rates Factor Crowding

HF Aggregate’s exposures to Market, Size, and Health Factors were near their peak levels seen in recent quarters. In addition to these, their Short Bonds/Long Interest Rates Factor exposure has also recently reached historic extremes:

U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate’s U.S. Long Bonds/Short Interest Rates Factor Exposure History

We discussed the fundamental sources of this Bonds/Interest Rates Factor exposure in a prior article. Short bond risk is a natural consequence of hedge funds’ fondness for financially leveraged companies, often viewed as “cheap call options.” A company’s indebtedness creates economic and statistically observable short bond exposure. Given the Q4 2016 moves in yields, this bet should prove profitable for the hedge fund industry.

Hedge Fund Residual (Idiosyncratic) Crowding

A fifth of hedge fund crowding on 9/30/2016 was due to residual (idiosyncratic, stock-specific) risk. The following stocks were the main contributors to residual hedge fund crowding:

Stocks Contributing Most to Relative Residual Variance of U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate in Q3 2016

(Relative exposures and relative variance contribution. All values are in %. Volatility is annualized.)

The importance of residual crowding diminished in recent quarters as factor crowding increased. Consequently, hedge fund stock-picking has faded in importance relative to market timing. The most crowded stocks are sensitive to asset flows in and out of the industry, but they are not the main threat to crowded portfolios. In the current environment of extreme systematic hedge fund crowding, investors and allocators should focus on the factor exposures. Without an accurate view of factor crowding, investors in a supposedly diversified hedge fund portfolio often end up paying high active fees for a passive factor portfolio.

Summary

• At Q3 2016, over 80% of hedge fund industry’s relative long equity risk was due to factor, or systematic, crowding.
• The main sources of Q3 2016 hedge fund crowding were high U.S. Market, short Size, long Health, and short Bonds/long Interest Rates Factor exposures.
• Short Bonds/Long Interest Rates Factor exposure reached historic extremes.
• Systematic exposures and risks shared across stocks, rather than individual positions, are driving 80% of the hedge fund industry’s long equity risk.
• Only robust analysis of factor and residual crowding can determine whether a hedge fund investor, follower, or allocator is investing in exceptional insights or in a generic passive factor portfolio.

The information herein is not represented or warranted to be accurate, correct, complete or timely.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Copyright © 2012-2016, AlphaBetaWorks, a division of Alpha Beta Analytics, LLC. All rights reserved.
Content may not be republished without express written consent.

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Typical analysis of hedge fund crowding focuses on individual stocks. This is misguided since over 85% of hedge funds’ monthly return variance is due to factor (systematic) exposures. Their residual, (idiosyncratic, or stock-specific) bets account for less than 15% of it. Likewise, factor crowding has driven much of the hedge fund industry’s performance and volatility. In Q2 2016, half of U.S. hedge funds’ long equity risk (tracking error) relative to the U.S. Market was due to a single crowded factor and two thirds was due to three crowded factors. This article reviews the most crowded bets at 6/30/2016 that have been driving hedge funds’ long equity performance.

Note that active risk is required to generate active returns and warrant management fees. Yet, not all exposures are created equal. Systematic exposures that are shared by the entire hedge fund industry and that can be obtained cheaply via index funds and ETFs do not warrant the same compensation as the distinctive insights of gifted managers. Even worse, these crowded bets expose investors to the damaging stampede of impatient capital.

Identifying Hedge Fund Crowding

We followed the approach of our earlier studies of hedge fund crowding: We processed regulatory filings of over 1,000 hedge funds and created a position-weighted portfolio (HF Aggregate) comprising all tractable hedge fund long U.S. equity portfolios. We then analyzed HF Aggregate’s risk relative to the U.S. Market. The most crowded bets are driving the hedge fund industry’s risk and performance. We identified these bets using the AlphaBetaWorks (ABW) Statistical Equity Risk Model – an effective system of forecasting future risk and performance.

Hedge Fund Industry’s Risk

HF Aggregate had 3.5% estimated future volatility (tracking error) relative to the U.S. Market in Q2 2016. Nearly 80% of this was due to its factor (systematic) exposures, rather than individual stocks:

Components of the Relative Risk for U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate in Q2 2016

A typical analysis of hedge fund crowding that focuses on individual stocks and popular holdings is thus misguided. It dwells on only 20% of the industry’s risk, overlooking the other 80%. Funds with no shared positions can still correlate highly when they have similar factor exposures. Consequently, such a simplistic analysis of position overlap and holdings misrepresents fund risk risk and fosters dangerous complacency.

Hedge Fund Factor (Systematic) Crowding

Below are HF Aggregate’s principal factor exposures (in red) relative to the U.S. Market’s (in gray). These are the primary bets behind factor risk and crowding in the table above:

Significant Absolute and Residual Factor Exposures of U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate in Q2 2016

Market (Beta) is the dominant long equity bet within the hedge fund industry. It accounts for approximately two thirds of relative factor risk and half of relative total risk:

Factors Contributing Most to Relative Factor Variance of U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate in Q2 2016

(Relative exposures and relative variance contribution. All values are in %. Volatility is annualized.)

The most crowded long equity bet is high systematic exposure to the U.S. Market – not any particular stock. In fact, high systematic market risk is more important to U.S. hedge fund long portfolios than all of their stock-specific bets combined. This makes the popular fascination with fund holdings and position overlap particularly dangerous. As factor crowding continues to dominate stock-specific risk and stock picking skill, the survival of asset managers and allocators increasingly relies on their grasp of systematic crowding and the predictive power of their risk management systems.

Hedge Fund U.S. Market Factor Crowding

The current Market Factor Exposure of HF Aggregate is approximately 115% (its Market Beta is approximately 1.15). This exposure has remained above 100% since 2012:

U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate’s U.S. Market Factor Exposure History

The average hedge fund long equity portfolio now carries approximately 15% more market risk than the Russell 3000 Index and approximately 20% more than the slightly less risky S&P 500 Index. This higher exposure illustrates the danger of evaluating them relative to broad benchmarks. In a year when S&P 500 returns 10%, the average hedge fund would need to return approximately 12% to match what investors would have earned by taking the same risk passively.

Hedge Fund U.S. Size Factor Crowding

The ABW Size Factor is the difference in returns, net of market and sector effects, between the largest and the smallest stocks. It is closely related to the Fama–French SMB Factor, but includes critical fixes: The ABW Size Factor strips out market and sector effects from security returns, revealing pure size risk. By contrast, SMB Factor captures size risk together with market beta and sector effects, since market exposure and sector composition differ between small- and large-cap stocks. This market and sector noise in the SMB Factor makes accurate risk estimation challenging and accurate performance attribution impossible.

Negative Size exposure corresponds to small-cap risk.  Hedge fund long equity portfolios currently have near-record small-cap exposure, equivalent to an approximately 10% bet on small company outperformance:

U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate’s U.S. Size Factor Exposure History

Hedge Fund U.S. Health Factor Crowding

Current hedge fund Heath Factor exposure remains near an all-time high:

U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate’s U.S. Size Health Factor Exposure History

Hedge Fund Residual (Idiosyncratic) Crowding

As of 6/30/2016, a quarter of hedge fund crowding was due to residual (idiosyncratic, stock-specific) risk. As factor crowding increased, residual crowding has diminished. Thus, stock-specific risk and stock-picking still have faded in importance:

Stocks Contributing Most to Relative Residual Variance of U.S. Hedge Fund Aggregate in Q2 2016

(Relative exposures and relative variance contribution. All values are in %. Volatility is annualized.)

The most crowded stocks continue to be sensitive to asset flows in and out of the industry. Yet, in the current environment of extreme systematic hedge fund crowding, allocators and fund followers should continue to pay more attention to factor risk. Indeed, allocators invested in a seemingly diversified portfolio of hedge funds may, in fact, be paying high active fees for a passive factor portfolio.

Summary

• At Q2 2016, nearly 80% of hedge funds’ relative long equity risk was due to factor, or systematic, exposures.
• The main source of Q2 2016 hedge fund crowding, responsible for half of long equity tracking error, was record U.S. Market exposure.
• Short Size Factor (small-cap bias) and long Health Factor exposures were the next most crowded bets, both near their historic extremes.
• Given high current hedge fund factor crowding, an analysis of aggregate and individual hedge funds must focus on systematic exposures and risk shared across positions, and not solely on individual positions.
• Fund investors, followers, and allocators must monitor whether they are investing in exceptional insights or generic factor exposures otherwise available via cheap passive instruments.

The information herein is not represented or warranted to be accurate, correct, complete or timely.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
Copyright © 2012-2016, AlphaBetaWorks, a division of Alpha Beta Analytics, LLC. All rights reserved.
Content may not be republished without express written consent.

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