Non-Myopic Betas

Abstract

We introduce non-myopic investors into the standard conditional Capital Asset Pricing Model. In equilibrium, the intertemporal hedging demand of non-myopic investors leads to a two-factor CAPM in which risk premiums are determined both by the market (myopic) beta and by the “non-myopic beta,” with respect to the future return on the mean-variance efficient portfolio. We identify this efficient portfolio non-parametrically as a solution to a fixed-point problem, and use it to estimate the non-myopic betas. We show that non-myopic betas are indeed priced in the cross-section of stock returns, and the relationship between expected returns and non-myopic betas is monotone increasing and economically significant. Using U.S. mutual fund data, we find that non-myopic betas of mutual fund returns are negatively related to their long-term Sharpe ratios, in agreement with theoretical predictions. In the presence of funding constraints, our model predicts that a low non-myopic beta is associated with a higher alpha. We confirm this prediction by constructing a “Betting Against Non-Myopic Beta” factor and showing that it generates superior performance over and above a number of factor models.