PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Andrew Ang AU - Clifford Asness AU - Jennifer Bender ED - Scott, Cathy TI - Practical Applications of Alpha, Beta & the Blend AID - 10.3905/pa.2015.3.sb.003 DP - 2015 Dec 31 TA - Practical Applications PG - 1--7 VI - 3 IP - SB 4099 - https://pm-research.com/content/3/SB/1.3.short 4100 - https://pm-research.com/content/3/SB/1.3.full AB - Alpha, Beta & the Blend Andrew Ang Clifford Asness Jennifer Bender Smart beta is empowering. It brings investment insights—previously available only to professional or elite investors—to the ordinary investor. But asset managers need to clarify their approaches so that investors can better understand how it fits into a portolio.In a recent webcast , Institutional Investor Journals’ Cathy Scott sat down with BlackRock ’s Andrew Ang , AQR ’s Cliff Asness and State Street Global Advisors ’ Jennifer Bender to discuss active, passive and blended approaches to smart beta.Andrew contends that there is no passive approach to smart beta: “Everything is active! Nothing is passive in the investment process.” Jen begs to differ, and she challenges Andrew to be careful about making promises. Cliff finds himself in the unusual position of being the peacemaker as he attempts to uncover similarities.