How to Combine Factors in Alphalens?

class Momentum(CustomFactor): inputs = [USEquityPricing.close] window_length = 252 def compute(self, today, assets, out, close): out[:] = close[-20] / close[0] class Value(CustomFactor): inputs = [USEquityPricing.close, morningstar.valuation_ratios.fcf_per_share] window_length = 1 def compute(self, today, assets, out, close, fcf): out[:] = close[-1] / fcf[-1] class Combined(CustomFactor): inputs = [Momentum, morningstar.valuation_ratios.fcf_yield] window_length = 1 def compute(self, today, assets, out, Momentum, fcf): value_table = pd.DataFrame(index=assets) value_table["momentum"] = Momentum[-1] value_table["fcf"] = fcf[-1] value_rank = value_table.rank("fcf").mean(axis=1) mom_rank = value_table.rank("momentum").mean(axis=1) out[:] = value_rank + mom_rank

This is a great question Lex. Alpha factor combination is an active area of research in the quant finance space, and there is certainly no one-size-fits-all approach.

I agree with Luca that the easiest way to get started is to normalize both (all) of your factors to match their variances in some way and then try a linear combination (e.g. rank, sum, re-rank) which assumes a 50% weight to each factor. From there you can think about reasons to weight factors un-equally, or perhaps even dynamically based on their trailing stand alone performance.

More recently there has been a lot of cool work looking at non-linear alpha combination approaches (see this Nomura research piece for some examples). One argument for a non-linear approach can be different timescales of your alpha factors. Value and momentum are the perfect example for this, where you may be considering a short term momentum factor, while your value factor is likely driven by slower moving inputs like quarterly financial statement data.

If you haven't come across Jonathan Larkin's blog post on the quant equity workflow I'd definitely recommend it as he provides a great overview of how the alpha combination step figures in to the full strategy design cycle.

Thanks Luca & Jess. My personal view is that it is better to focus on trying to diversify across markets to capture factor inefficiencies elsewhere rather than 'overfit' factor weights in a single market. I will potentially look into using very simple macroeconomic regime modelling to decide selection & combination. Many AI / machine learning funds have blown up over the past 30 years (Ray Dalio says this himself). The Nomura article is interesting though, particularly using a decision tree framework to arrive at factor allocations.

Does alphalens allow using macroeconomic variables as inputs? I.e. does New Manufacturing Orders predict industrials / materials sector returns 1-3 months out... this type of analysis.

Regards
Lex