Partner Podcast: Can data help identify genuine skill in active fund managers?

clock • 1 min read

Listen to the AB Alpha Females podcast to explore how today's multi-asset strategies are evolving beyond the old blueprints.

Alla Harmsworth, Co-Head of Institutional Solutions at AllianceBernstein, says yes—but only if you look beyond conventional performance metrics. "We're not interested in just whether someone has outperformed," she explains. "We want to understand how they've done it—and whether that outperformance is likely to persist."

Harmsworth's team uses a proprietary approach called Alphalytics, which isolates ‘idiosyncratic alpha'—a measure of skill that strips out market factors such as value, growth and momentum. This helps to avoid the common pitfall of chasing short-term winners whose returns may simply reflect style tailwinds.

Previous Podcasts

More on Multi-manager

Partner Podcast: Reframing diversification in a post-60/40 world

Partner Podcast: Reframing diversification in a post-60/40 world

Listen to the latest podcast with Defne Ozaltun, Portfolio Manager on AllianceBernstein’s multi-asset solutions team

Defne Ozaltun, Portfolio Manager on AllianceBernstein’s Multi-Asset Solutions team
clock 06 August 2025 • 1 min read
Industry Voice: Multi asset - winning is mainly about not losing

Industry Voice: Multi asset - winning is mainly about not losing

On the road, foul weather creates hazards and panics drivers. In markets, drawdowns have a similar impact.

Multi-managers adapting under pressure

Traditional multi-management firms have increased their offerings following calls for more fiduciary responsibility, as Helen Fowler reports

Helen Fowler
clock 03 November 2010 •
Trustpilot