Taming the Factor Zoo – Making Sense of Investment Risk Factors

Hosted by Savina Rizova, PhD and Bob French, CFA

The investing world is awash in “factors” that seek to explain the risk and reward relationships in the financial markets. From Momentum, to Quality, to Value, and Profitability, there are a lot of good stories to tell about these relationships. But how can you know which ones are useful? Through all of the randomness in the financial markets, there is an inherent logic to the relationship between risk and return. And understanding this fundamental relationship can help you tease out which risk factors are (potentially) worth including in your investment portfolio.

Full Access only $99

Workshop Instructor

In this workshop Savina and Bob will detail:

  • How to understand the fundamental relationship in the financial markets – and why risk and return are so tightly related (at least in the long term)
  • How the dimensions of expected returns work
  • How to evaluate whether a risk factor is likely to be useful in the future
  • Whether it’s possible for a risk factor to “stop working”
  • Which risk factors you might want to include in your investment portfolio

Full Access only $99

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Savina Rizova is Co-Chief Investment Officer and Global Head of Research at Dimensional Fund Advisors LP. She was named Co-CIO in 2024 and serves in that role alongside Gerard O’Reilly, who is also Co-Chief Executive Officer. As Co-CIO, Savina helps lead a team of more than 300 investment professionals across six countries. She is also Chair of the Investment Research Committee and a member of the Investment Committee.

Since joining Dimensional’s Research department in 2004, Savina has worked closely with leading academics, collaborating on research, coauthoring papers, and partnering with Dimensional’s broader investment team to implement robust research in live portfolios. She has helped drive innovation across Dimensional’s product offering, including the development, launch, and rapid growth of Dimensional exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the expanded separately managed accounts (SMAs) offering, and model portfolios. She was instrumental in expanding the Research team to more than 100 specialists in investment research, strategy research, and analytics and data.

Savina was recognized as one of Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance in 2022 and 2023. She holds a PhD in finance and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She also earned a BA in economics and mathematics from Dartmouth College, where she was a research assistant to Professor Kenneth French.

Bob is responsible for McLean’s investment strategy. In this role, he ensures that McLean stays at the cutting edge of financial innovation, and helps clients understand how to make the most of their investments within the broader framework of their retirement income plan.

Bob grew up around finance, and he started his career with Dimensional Fund Advisors. While there, he oversaw a data analysis program for financial advisors and helped them think through how to use data to illustrate their client discussions – including when not to use the numbers and focus on the intuition behind the numbers. Following Dimensional Fund Advisors, Bob joined inStream Solutions to help them develop one of the most complete financial planning analytics tools on the market.

Bob joined the McLean team to continue working to understand how investments fit in the broader retirement income paradigm, and to have a chance to work directly with clients to help them develop a more complete understanding of how everything fits together.

Bob grew up in Hanover, NH, and now lives in Portland, ME with his wife and two daughters.

Education

  • B.A. Government, Connecticut College

Professional Affiliations & Designations

  • Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)

Total Return

How to Create Your Retirement Income Plan

Designing Your Asset Allocation

Sustainable Spending from Investments Main Page

Ongoing Investment Management Main Page

Why The Markets Work Main Page

Risk Wrap

How to Create Your Retirement Income Plan

Understanding and Interpreting Annuities and Annuity Contracts Main Page

Annuities and Risk Pooling

Designing Your Asset Allocation

Sustainable Spending from Investments Main Page

Time Segmentation

How to Create Your Retirement Income Plan

Designing and Implementing Your Bond Ladder Main Page

Understanding and Using Time Segmentation Strategies Main Page

How Do Bonds Work? Making Sense Of Bond Returns

Managing Inflation In Your Retirement Income Plan

Income Protection

How to Create Your Retirement Income Plan

Understanding and Interpreting Annuities and Annuity Contracts Main Page

Annuities and Risk Pooling

Developing a Social Security Claiming Strategy Main Page

Managing Inflation In Your Retirement Income Plan

Creating Your Retirement Plan

How to Create Your Retirement Income Plan

Making the Most of Your Charitable Donations: Understanding Charitable Giving Strategies and Your Retirement Plan

Medicare Decisions and Health Expenses for Retirees 2024

Long-Term Care Planning Main Page

Developing a Social Security Claiming Strategy Main Page

Understanding Retirement Expense Dynamics: Expense Categories and Risks

Living in Retirement

The Vanishing Work – Retirement Threshold

On Your Own in Retirement: Special Considerations for Singles, Divorcees and Widows

Family Dynamics and Your Retirement Plan – At the Intersection of Love and Money

Optimizing Your Other Portfolio: Maximizing Returns from Your New Time Affluence in Retirement

Housing Decisions for Retirement Main Page

Non Financial Side of Retirement Main Page

Health in Retirement

Long-Term Care Planning Main Page

How to Manage the Physical, Behavioral, and Mental Health Risks to Your Retirement

Medicare Decisions and Health Expenses for Retirees 2024

Health Risk in Retirement: How to Think About It and What to Do About It

Investment Deep Dive

Why The Markets Work Main Page

Taming the Factor Zoo – Making Sense of Investment Risk Factors

Designing Your Asset Allocation

Sustainable Spending from Investments Main Page

How Do Bonds Work? Making Sense Of Bond Returns

Understanding and Using ESG Investments

Factor Investing: Research and Practice Main Page

Ongoing Investment Management Main Page

Finding the Right Balance on Rebalancing

Retirement Income Challenge

RIC – DAY 1

RIC – DAY 2

RIC – DAY 3

RIC – DAY 4