S2E355 - Do Index Funds Incur Adverse Selection Costs?

Marco Sammon joins Ben and Dan to unpack his latest paper, 'Index Rebalancing and Stock Market Composition', beginning with how Marco's work (co-written by John Shim) compares to the Nobel Prize-winner Bill Sharpe's paper, 'Arithmetic of Active Management.' We investigate the missing links in Sharpe's logic before defining "the market" and ascertaining the main objectives of index funds. Then, we dive deeper into the mechanics of Marco's paper, index and market tracking errors, why delayed rebalancing is more beneficial than instant rebalancing, and the role of technology in the modern tracking error obsession. We also assess the passive-active...