Year of the Rooster: Did smart beta hit the mainstream?

In recent years, investors have had a few priorities when it comes to putting their money to work. One has been the desire to put more money into low-cost passive strategies; another was an interest in diversifying how they invest, in order to tap unusual areas of opportunity and to mitigate risk.  Fund managers have been quick to seek to meet both needs, and one way they have sought to do so is through smart beta funds. Their concerted promotion of these products led us to tackle…