Multi-factor volatility and stock returns

In light of inconclusive evidence on the relation between market volatility and stock returns, this paper proposes a multi-factor volatility model and examines its impact on cross-sectional pricing. We also evaluate the out-of-sample performance and economic significance of multi-factor volatility. We find that conditional variances of the size and value dynamic factor earn significant and positive variance risk premia. In addition, multi-factor volatility can significantly improve the out-of-sample return predictability with a positive economic gain in asset allocation. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.