Driven by supply chain, labor market and energy supply issues, consumer prices are surging at a rate last seen in the 1970s and 1980s. To what degree this could have been foreseen is the subject of increasingly acrimonious debate.
Steven Xinlei Shen
Steven Xinlei Shen, Manager of Quantitative Strategies at EPFR, uses quantitative analysis to extract value from fund flow and allocations data to help asset managers identify new strategies and detect market opportunities.
Steven works primarily with clients in Asia-Pacific (APAC) markets and U.S. clients investing in APAC markets, helping them mine the firm’s EPFR database of mutual fund and exchange-traded fund flows and positioning data across global markets. He illustrates the predictive power of the data through modelling, based on the distinct mandates of clients.
He specializes in fund flow quantitative strategy development, new data product development, new idea generation and visualization, and research consultation. Previously, he maintained all global asset allocation strategies as well as developed Asia dedicated country and sector strategies from the firm’s Shanghai office.
Steven, a native of China, is a recreational race car driver outside the office whose record speed is 200 mph at the track.
B.S., International Business and Economics - Shanghai University of International Business and Economics.
Master of Finance - Northeastern University.
Certificate in Quantitative Finance (CQF) - Fitch Learning.
“Most people think quantitative analysis is extremely complex. And it is. But sometimes, it’s beautiful in its simplicity. Sometimes, a simple dataset exposes an extraordinary condition lurking just below the surface. And a whole new market strategy emerges.”
Quants Corner – Evergrande: Telling when it isn’t
Evergrande, ranked among the Fortune Global 500, is the second-largest real-estate property developer in China with over 100,000 employees and annual revenues exceeding $70 billion. It also has an estimated $300 billion in debt outstanding together with a back-log, numbering in the tens of thousands, of promised-but-unfinished apartments. After Chinese regulators implemented requirements linking allowed debt levels to cash flow and capital reserves, it is struggling to service its debt.
The predictive power of EPFR – Webinar
Since the start of its ETF purchasing program in 4Q10, the combined value of the Bank Of Japan’s (BOJ) domestic ETF holdings has ballooned to over $450 billion. It owns over 5% of the total market capitalization of the TOPIX index and, by some estimates, has acquired 70% of the total ETFs eligible under the terms of its current program.
A rising tide lifts some (Japanese) boats: The Bank of Japan’s ETF purchases and their impact on market signals for individual stocks
The Bank of Japan has been the pace-setter among central banks when it comes to purchasing non-government financial securities. It was the first central bank to officially declare that it was buying exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Japan Real Estate Investment trusts (J-REITs).
Quants Corner – When Beijing squeezes, where does the money go?
The cancellation of Ant Financials’ scheduled IPO last November signaled the start of a sustained push by Chinese regulators to clip the wings of major technology plays. That push expanded to other businesses seen as out of line with official goals and policies.
Quants Corner – ESG: The climate has changed
EPFR started tracking equity fund flows in the first quarter of 1996. It started tracking its first funds with socially responsible (SRI) or environmental, social and governance (ESG) mandates in 2000. But it was not until late 2016 that flows into SRI/ESG Equity Funds really took off.
China: Should it be its own asset class? – Webinar
Join EPFR Director of Research, Cameron Brandt, Forbes Columnist, Kenneth Rapoza and EPFR Manager of Quant Strategies, Steven X. Shen, CQF as they discuss how managers are navigating retail currents, geopolitical reefs, the pandemic tide and rebalanced ballasts, the debate about China’s future as an asset class, and the economic relationship between China and the US in our latest webinar playback.
Quants Corner – Japan: Ex-Asia but not ex-Alpha
For decades, global investors have become conditioned to the term Asia ex(cluding) Japan. It’s a term that reflects Japan’s individual place in the current investment universe.
China: Should it be in an asset class of its own?
Our latest technical paper discusses China as an asset class from the perspective of the EPFR China Flows and Positioning datasets. China Share Class Allocations (CSCA) is the latest in a progression of datasets offered by EPFR that shed light on China, stretching back to Emerging Markets Equity Fund flows in 1995.
The predictive power of EPFR data: A Quantitative perspective
Predictive power of EPFR: a Quants perspective Our webinar demonstrates the ‘predictive power’ of EPFR Fund Flows and Allocations data. Our event, hosted by our EPFR Director of Research – Cameron Brandt and our esteemed Quant team, Vik Srimurthy, Steven Shen and Sayad Baronyan provides a walkthrough of the EPFR…