The 2026 Marsh CFA Institute Global Pension Index is released by Marsh in partnership with the CFA Institute and the Monash Centre for Financial Studies, covering 55 retirement income systems worldwide. It uses adequacy (40% weight), sustainability (35% weight), and integrity (25% weight) as core evaluation dimensions.
Read originalOpenAI is improving ChatGPT’s code generation performance for low-resource programming languages, adding three evaluation dimensions: software engineering, SQLite, and COBOL migration. These capability improvements are centered on code generation scenarios for low-resource programming languages.
Read originalCICC released a preview forecast for the Hang Seng Index quarterly review, expecting Zijin Gold International and other companies to be included in the Hang Seng Index blue-chip constituents. The Hang Seng Tech Index is expected to see a significant expansion, with 20 new constituents added.
Read originalQuantocracy has compiled the latest quant research-related links as of October 18, 2026, covering topics including trend following, futures continuous contract construction, in-sample to out-of-sample Sharpe ratio decay, the impact of liquidity on stock returns and option pricing, and cryptocurrency cross-sectional trend factors. One study based on 12 commodity futures found that the expected retention ratio of in-sample Sharpe ratios from a 10-year backtest on new data is 30%.
Read originalThe Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has released a working paper examining the role of Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) regulation for large U.S. banks in driving the growth of private credit markets.
Read originalThe CFA Institute research team reviewed the 2025 fiscal year financial reports of 50 large global listed companies, finding that their book-disclosed investments in joint ventures totaled $351 billion, while total actual exposure reached $612 billion after reconstructing five layers of exposure. The difference stems from risks not recorded in individual line items, including shareholder loans, guarantees, and unpaid capital contributions.
Read originalGoogle DeepMind is advancing the widespread deployment of Gemini 4 Argon while expanding the coverage of trusted cyber defenders in the Fairwind Program. The model solved all 12 scenarios in end-to-end simulated cyberattack tests, a significant improvement from 5 in the previous generation. Its refusal rate for violating requests nearly doubled compared to the previous generation, and violations accounted for only 2% of attempts in coding benchmark tests.
Read originalQuantocracy compiled recent quantitative content on October 12, 2026, covering an introduction to Quant Observer, a quantitative tools directory platform; a historical effectiveness analysis of excess returns from insider buying; a backtest of volatility clustering effects in S&P 500 constituents from 2006 to 2025; a guide to building a multi-asset, multi-timeframe trading pipeline; and AI answers on the replicability of empirical finance research.
Read originalAQR has released the third part of its research series on tax-aware long-short (TA LS) strategies, clarifying two common misconceptions. As an active investment strategy, TA LS deliberately retains tracking error to express alpha models and capture excess returns and tax deferral benefits, rather than minimizing tracking error like direct indexing. Portfolio construction for TA LS requires balancing expected returns, risk, costs, and taxes, rather than simply realizing capital losses or deferring capital gains.
Read originalAnalysis of 401(k) plan filings from 2013 to 2023 by the CFA Institute Research and Policy Center shows that the average expense ratio of 401(k) investment menus fell from 0.69% to 0.39%, with declines in both active and index fund fees, and the fee gap between small and large plans has essentially closed. Fund quality also improved over the same period, with the weighted average of Morningstar Medalist ratings rising from 3.45 to 3.85, and lower-cost funds often receiving higher ratings.
Read originalBlock Scholes has released its Week 40 crypto derivatives market analysis report, noting that against a macro backdrop of rising oil prices, the ongoing U.S.-Iran Strait of Hormuz standoff, and deepening U.S. Treasury sell-offs, BTC prices have consolidated in the $82,000 to $84,000 range, while spot BTC and ETH ETFs have recorded net capital inflows for over 7 consecutive days.
Read originalAQR has published the second installment of its research series on tax-aware long-short (TA LS) investing, clarifying two misconceptions arising from analogies to direct indexing. First, the tax benefits of TA LS come primarily from deferred capital gains rather than active loss harvesting: its loss realization pace is similar to ordinary tax-insensitive strategies, and tax-aware optimization is mainly used to avoid selling positions with existing unrealized gains, especially short-term gains.
Read originalBridgewater released a research report pointing out that current carbon pricing mechanisms cover approximately 30% of global emissions, mainly dominated by the emissions trading systems of the European Union and China. The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is amplifying its impact and promoting the adoption of carbon pricing worldwide.
Read originalAQR has published a research article noting that the market often incorrectly analogizes tax-aware long-short investing (TA LS) to direct indexing strategies, clarifying two core misconceptions.
Read originalBlock Scholes released its Week 38 crypto derivatives market analysis report. The current market prices in a 93% probability of a rate hike at the Fed's next-day meeting, while the probability of the Clarity Act passing by the end of 2026 on Polymarket has dropped to 19%.
Read originalAQR has updated its previous analysis of inflation sensitivity and inflation hedging, based on over 50 years of market data. While global inflation has fallen rapidly from its 2022 peak, inflation uncertainty persists in major markets, stock-bond correlations are at multi-decade highs, and traditional stock-bond portfolios are vulnerable to simultaneous losses during inflation shocks. Commodities and trend-following strategies perform strongly during inflation upcycles and can serve as inflation diversification tools, with implementation methods significantly affecting long-term returns and macro diversification outcomes.
Read originalAQR’s latest research, "Liquidity without Liquidation", shows that tax-sensitive long-short strategies can extract large amounts of cash without fully liquidating the portfolio, while maintaining pre-tax returns, target tracking error, and leverage levels.
Read originalAQR has released the research Investing in a Warming World, noting that mainstream portfolio carbon metrics such as carbon footprint and carbon intensity are easily affected by rising stock market valuations, and may show improvement even when corporate emissions change little, potentially overestimating decarbonization progress when used as time-series measures of decarbonization. Financed emissions are more directly linked to real-world emissions outcomes. The study also explores approaches to constructing climate-oriented portfolios, noting that combining multiple metrics can provide a more comprehensive assessment of climate-related investment progress.
Read originalAQR research explores whether tax-aware equity strategies can provide sufficient liquidity without full liquidation, while preserving investment objectives. The study finds that substantial capital can be extracted while maintaining tracking error, leverage, and pre-tax information ratio. The tax-efficient extraction capability of long-short strategies is generally superior to that of direct indexing strategies, and improves with higher strategy tracking error and leverage levels.
Read originalBlock Scholes released its Week 35 crypto derivatives market review. Influenced by the U.S. Treasury's plan to expand Treasury repo operations and Trump pushing the Senate to pass the Clarity Act, BTC rose 20% over the past week, with its current price breaking through $80,000, and ETH rose 30%. The three major sentiment indicators in the derivatives market have repriced along with spot market movements. Options skew has turned positive, call option premiums have appeared in contracts with tenors of 7 days or more, funding rates remain positive, and the futures term structure is inverted.
Read originalThis study is published in the Financial Analysts Journal, Q3 2026, Volume 82, Issue 3, pages 138-166. It uses the National Pension Service of Korea as a sample to analyze ESG implementation by pension funds.
Read originalBridgewater released a research report on January 7, 2026, estimating that AI capital spending will contribute about 140 basis points to U.S. GDP growth in 2026 and about 150 basis points in 2027, a scale comparable to the contribution of business investment to growth during the dot-com bubble.
Read originalBridgewater released a study on November 13, 2025, analyzing Canada's response path under U.S. high tariffs and USMCA uncertainty. The report notes that Canada's GDP contracted in Q2 2025, after which it adopted a three-pillar strategy of trade diversification, fiscal expansion, and loose monetary policy, aiming to double non-U.S. exports within a decade and add over CAD 300 billion in trade volume. The fiscal deficit for FY2025-26 reached CAD 78 billion, accounting for 2.5% of GDP. The Bank of Canada maintains an accommodative stance, and initial signs of stabilization have emerged in manufacturing orders, residential construction, and the labor market.
Read originalBridgewater released a research report outlining the energy supply and security landscape across the U.S., China, and Europe in the context of modern mercantilism. The report notes that cheap and abundant electricity is critical to the AI race and national competitiveness, and governments are now making energy self-sufficiency a core policy priority. The report also analyzes the differentiated challenges and advantages of the three regions in energy supply chains and power capacity expansion.
Read originalBridgewater released a research report, arguing that the inflation center in the post-pandemic era has risen compared with that before the pandemic, 2% is more like a bottom than an upper limit, and the distribution of inflation outcomes is wider and skewed upward. The report compares the current environment with that in the 2010s, pointing out that restraining factors such as China's export of low-priced goods, shale oil production, and post-crisis deleveraging have weakened; while the medium-term expansion deficit of about 7% of US GDP, the compromised independence of the Federal Reserve, tariffs and trade restructuring, potential depreciation of the US dollar, and AI power and commodity demand constitute structural inflationary pressures.
Read originalBridgewater, in collaboration with Eclipse, released the second part of its series on reviving U.S. manufacturing, pointing out that U.S. manufacturing lacks competitiveness due to high labor costs and a weak industrial base, and tariffs cannot bridge the cost gap. The report proposes leveraging mature technologies such as automation, computer vision, and additive manufacturing, as well as cutting-edge technologies like generative AI and embodied AI, to boost manufacturing productivity by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude. Scaling the application of these technologies is expected to take nearly a decade.
Read originalBridgewater, in partnership with industrial technology investment firm Eclipse, released a study exploring the structural challenges of reviving U.S. manufacturing. Currently, about 40% of goods consumed in the U.S. rely on imports, with a manufacturing job gap of nearly 5 million over the past 20 years. For some product categories, even a 25% tariff cannot close the gap between domestic and foreign production costs. U.S. manufacturing productivity has stagnated for 15 years, and boosting productivity is the core path to enhancing the competitiveness of domestic manufacturing.
Read originalBridgewater released a research report on March 19, 2025, noting that energy policies in major global economies are shifting from a climate-first approach to prioritizing energy security and industrial competitiveness. The current energy landscape is characterized by incremental additions rather than a transition-driven replacement, with fossil fuels and renewable energy growing simultaneously, though the pace of decarbonization will slow.
Read originalBridgewater research indicates that since 2010, the excess returns of U.S. stocks relative to developed markets have been roughly equally driven by revenue growth, margin expansion, and rising P/E multiples, with a stronger U.S. dollar further boosting returns for unhedged global investors. The technology sector contributed 54% of the excess returns, of which 22% came from index overweights in technology and 32% from U.S. tech companies significantly outperforming their global peers.
Read originalThe Bridgewater research team believes the AI bubble has not yet arrived, noting that the transformative technology and mature macro monetary environment needed to fuel a major bubble are already in place. This view addresses market concerns about AI valuations, commercialization, and slowing technological progress, while also highlighting risks of AI misuse and regulatory uncertainty. Bridgewater established AIA Labs in early 2023 with the goal of building a fully AI-driven investor that can outperform humans.
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