The Curious Case Of Missing Alpha

In the equity markets, what you see is not necessarily what you get. If the returns are high, then we assume ‘All is Well’ and when at a low we start finding reasons to worry. However, returns can be like the proverbial iceberg. They often conceal a lot more than what they reveal. It is for this reason that returns should not always be taken at face value. Instead, they warrant a deeper and unbiased analysis which can often reveal interesting insights.   The year of anomalies 2018 was a year of anomalies. On the face of it, Nifty 50 generated a slightly positive return while the overall broader markets (particularly the mid and small cap stocks) struggled to finally close 2018 in the negative zone. While some of the large global indices gave negative returns, Nifty 50 gave a positive return. Yet, merely looking at the headline number might be misleading. The headline...