PctAcc · Accruals · Hafzalla, Lundholm, Van Winkle (2011)

Percent Operating Accruals

Long minus short decile portfolio, value-weighted, market-adjusted. Quarterly, 1964Q3 to 2024Q4.

Expected return · posterior mean, % per year, averaged over the window
Next quarter
2026Q4
2.85%
95% interval −0.22% to 5.87%
Next year
2026Q4–2027Q3
2.85%
95% interval −0.23% to 5.88%
Next five years
2026Q4–2031Q3
2.84%
95% interval −0.28% to 5.91%

Forecast made 16 Sep 2026, conditioning on this portfolio's OAP returns, which end 2024Q4. The 7 quarters between then and 2026Q4 are unobserved and are integrated out under the model.

Cumulative market-adjusted return

+323% since 1964Q3 · log scale

Past performance, annualized

Window Mean Vol. Sharpe t
1964Q3–2024Q4 3.18% 12.80% 0.25 1.93
2020Q1–2024Q4 3.53% 9.15% 0.39 0.86
2024Q1–2024Q4 −3.57% 6.65% −0.54 −0.54

Forecast Sharpe ratio, annualized

Window Mean 95% interval P(neg)
2026Q4 0.22 −0.02 – 0.46 0.03
2026Q4–2027Q3 0.22 −0.02 – 0.46 0.03
2026Q4–2031Q3 0.22 −0.02 – 0.46 0.04
Category
Accruals
Form
Continuous
Data
Accounting
Sorted on
Low minus high
Names per leg
310.5 long / 308.5 short median · 32 at the 10th pctile
Original sample
1989–2008