Pim van Vliet

Pim van Vliet (born 30 September 1977) is a Dutch fund manager and head of conservative equities at Robeco Quantitative Investments.

Pim van Vliet holds a PhD in finance and a Master's in Economics (cum laude) from Erasmus University Rotterdam. He has a history degree and successfully completed a dissertation on Downside Risk and Empirical Asset Pricing in 2004.

In 2005, van Vliet joined Robeco, transitioning from academia to the role of a quantitative fund analyst developing and managing quantitative strategies. In 2006, he founded several Robeco's Conservative Equity strategies and currently serves as Chief Quantitative Strategist. Throughout his career, van Vliet has contributed to the field of scientific investing through research papers and publications on quantitative investing in general and low-volatility investing in particular.In 2016 he wrote the investment book "High returns from Low risk" which aims to explain defensive equity investing in a simple way.

Van Vliet has participated in various podcasts and webinars, contributing insights on investment strategies and financial research. He has also been cited as a fund manager in financial publications such as the Financial Times, Reuters, and Institutional Investor. His extensive research in the field of quantitative investing, spanning historical data covering over a century, has garnered notable attention and recognition. Notably, his historical analysis was featured in articles by Bloomberg and by the Washington Post.Furthermore, he has contributed articles on factor investing to peer-reviewed academic journals, including the Journal of Financial Economics, Financial Analyst Journal, Management Science, Journal of Banking and Finance, and The Journal of Portfolio Management.

Pim has authored over 30 academic papers and an investment book, contributing significantly to the study of the low-volatility anomaly. His collaborations have included co-authors such as Guido Baltussen, David Blitz, Eric Falkenstein, Haim Levy, and others. His papers have been widely accessed, exceeding 100,000 on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN).As of 2023, his h-index stands at 12 (Scopus) and 20 (Scholar). Noteworthy publications include:

• Global Factor Premiums, with Guido Baltussen and Laurens Swinkels, Journal of Financial Economics, 2021.
• When Equity Factors Drop Their Shorts, with David Blitz and Guido Baltussen, Financial Analyst Journal, 2020.
• The Conservative Formula: Quantitative Investing made easy, with David Blitz, Journal of Portfolio Management, 2018.
• The Volatility Effect: Lower Risk without Lower Returns, with David Blitz, Journal of Portfolio Management, 2007.
• Risk aversion and skewness preference, with Haim Levy and Thierry Post, Journal of Banking and Finance, 2008.

Titled: High Returns from Low Risk: a remarkable stock market paradox (2016), this collaborative effort by Pim van Vliet and Jan de Koning introduces the concept of the Conservative Formula, offering readers insights into a distinctive stock market paradox. Translated into several languages, including Chinese, German, French, Spanish and Dutch. In 2017 it earned recognition by being ranked as the top must-read book on finance-monthly.com in 2017. Since then, it has garnered reviews from readers across the United States, Europe, and China. Notable reviews has been featured on platforms such as ETF.com, FT advisors, Trader Life UK, Stockopedia, El Mundo Financiero, Beleggers belangen, FocusMoney, Masterbourse and JD.com.

Citation of Excellence Award Issued by Emerald for paper "The Volatility Effect: Lower Risk without Lower Returns" in Journal of Portfolio Management.

Pim lives in Berkel en Rodenrijs, The Netherlands. In the investment book he describes that his father, an entrepreneur, taught him the virtues of saving and investing at a young age.