Vol. III · No. 22Friday, May 29, 2026Independent · Reader-funded
Est. 2024 · A Quarterly on Capital & Conduct

Coin & Compass

A journal of money, markets, and the math nobody teaches you in school.
← Back to The Ledger
Investing

Small-Cap Value: The Premium That Won't Die

Decades of academic research suggest small-cap value stocks earn a premium. Decades of investors have failed to capture it.

By Iliana Ferreira · January 13, 2026 · 8 min read

The premium is real but lumpy. Stretches of underperformance can run a decade. Most investors give up halfway through.

If you tilt, do it with a low-cost factor ETF and a horizon measured in decades, not years.