E22. Alpha Unchained: What the Data Says About Portable Alpha's Institutional Moment - Descript

Return stacking and portable alpha are no longer niche strategies — they're going mainstream.

In this episode, we cut through the noise and unpack the latest institutional survey data to separate hype from reality.

Corey Hoffstein, CEO & CIO of Newfound Research and Co-Founder & Portfolio Manager of the Return Stacked® ETF Suite, sits down with special guest Shane McCarthy, CFA, Global Head of the Client & Partner Group at LAB Quantitative Strategies, to go beyond the theory and into what the latest institutional survey data actually reveals about where portable alpha stands right now — and where it's headed.

What You Will Learn:

• Why portable alpha has expanded well beyond pensions — into endowments, OCIOs, family offices, and wealth channels — and what the latest survey data reveals about AUM growth in the space
• What allocators are actually optimizing for, and how survey data breaks down their primary objectives
• Which alpha sources are winning, how much overlay exposure institutions are taking, and why a single alpha source may not be enough
• The three implementation structures in use today, how fee and liquidity terms compare, and what beta instrument trade-offs matter most in practice

Don't miss the extended Q&A, where Corey and Shane go deep on instrument selection, alpha durability, illiquidity tolerance, and the nuances of overlay sizing.