Jensen’s Alpha

Jensen’s Alpha is a risk-adjusted performance metric representing the average return on a portfolio or investment above or below the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) predicted.

Owais Siddiqui
29 Oct 2022
1 min read
Updated

Given the portfolio's or investment's beta and the average market return, Jensen's Alpha is a risk-adjusted performance metric representing the average return on a portfolio or investment above or below the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) predicted. Simply put, Alpha is the name given to this statistic.

Example of it:

Jensen's Alpha=Rp-[Rf+Bp*(Rm-Rf)

Where,

Rp = Expected Portfolio Return

Rf = Risk-Free Rate

Bp = Beta of the Portfolio

Rm = Expected Market Return

A portfolio has realised a return of 15%. The approximate market index returned 12%. The fund's beta versus the same index is 1.2, and the risk-free rate is 6%.
Jensen’s Alpha = 15 – [ 6 + 1.2 * (12 – 6) ] = 1.8%

Why is it vital to know Jensen's Alpha?

As a fundamental practice of analysing our investments, investment managers are responsible for showing their performance against a given benchmark. Jensen's Alpha is one of the known measures utilised to measure the fund's performance.

26. Term:

This page was last updated:

Owais Siddiqui

Expert Tutor at Learnsignal

Qualified professional with years of experience in teaching and helping students achieve their accounting qualifications.

View all posts by Owais Siddiqui

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Join over 30,000+ Learnsignal students and get regular insights delivered to your inbox.

Ready to Start Your Risk & Quantitative Finance Journey?

Join thousands of successful students who have achieved their qualifications with Learnsignal.

Ready to get started?

Join 100,000+ students across 130 countries. Choose a plan that fits your goals — cancel anytime.

View Pricing