Head of Next Gen Research
• Insight
Quant Chart: Lost in translation
Do you like watching old Asian movies from the 60s and 70s? Perhaps you’re a connoisseur of kung fu or monster movies; popular genres from that era. If you are, and you live in a Western country, those movies would have been translated from their original Chinese or Japanese into a Western language, most likely English.
Authors
Researcher
Researcher
If so, you may have noticed that when the actors speak, their mouths move for far longer than it took to say the English translation, and you might even have wondered what it was you were missing. Of course, everyone knows that a lot of context and information – actors’ performance, accents, nuances and local culture references – gets lost in translation when a movie is dubbed. But have you ever wondered whether investment information also gets lost in translation?
Natural Language Processing (NLP), an application of artificial intelligence, is a popular tool that is revolutionizing quantitative finance and being applied to many types of texts. However, most NLP tools are developed for texts in English. Since English is not the only language spoken around the world1, a popular approach to process non-English texts is to translate them into English, and then apply English NLP models to the translated texts.
In recent research, Robeco discovered that just like in those old Asian movies, the above-described approach based on translated text also results in some information (alpha) being lost in translation. When a local-language-based NLP model is applied to the local-language text, additional information (alpha) can be revealed and therefore harvested.
Take, for example, Chinese investment texts. The left-hand chart in Figure 1 shows the performance of factors built from Chinese and English-based NLP engines. The good news is that both are positive, so not all information is lost in translation. However, the right-hand chart in Figure 1 shows that of the top quintile-ranked stocks from the Chinese NLP model, only 50% of which would be classified in the top two quintiles under the English NLP model.
Figure 1: English translation versus Chinese original NLP output
Source: I/B/E/S, Refinitiv, Orbit Financial Technology, Robeco. The left panel of the figure displays the return spread between the top and bottom quintile portfolios based on the NLP sentiment score using the Chinese and the English language. The right panel of the graph displays the similarity in stock classification between the two signals. More specifically, it shows the percentage of top English NLP stocks classified in the corresponding quintiles based on the Chinese language. The investment universe consist of MSCI China A index constituents. The portfolios are equally weighted, rebalanced monthly. The left and right charts illustrate the results for the sample period of January 2013 till December 2022.
This shows that the stocks selected are different because there is no perfect overlap. Like those old Asian movies from the 60s and 70s, information may also be lost in translation. To fully grasp the nuances of a movie’s dialogue, it is worth watching the film in the original language, if possible. And to fully understand what is being communicated in an investment text, it may be worth reading the texts in their original local language.
Footnote
1 English is only spoken natively by 400 million people around the world, or ~5% of the global population.
Important information
THIS WEBSITE IS SOLELY INTENDED FOR PROFESSIONAL INVESTORS, WHICH HAS THE MEANING ASCRIBED TO IT IN THE SECURITIES AND FUTURES ORDINANCE (CAP. 571 OF THE LAWS OF HONG KONG) AND ITS SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION. Investment involves risks. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. The information contained in this website is provided for reference only and does not constitute investment advice or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell in any securities or to adopt any investment strategy. Investors should not base their investment decisions solely on the information provided on this website and are advised to seek independent advice (including advice on tax implications) before making any investment decisions. Investors should ensure they fully understand the risks associated with the investment products and should also consider their own investment objectives and risk tolerance level. The investment decision is yours. You should not invest unless the intermediary who sells you the investment products has advised you that it is suitable for you and has explained how it is consistent with your investment objectives. Please refer to the relevant offering documents or other legal documents for further details including the risk factors. This website is published by Robeco Hong Kong Limited which is regulated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (“SFC”) (CE No. APU851). This website has not been reviewed by the SFC. No assurance can be given that the investment objective of any investment products will be achieved. No representation or promise as to the performance of any investment products or the return on an investment is made. The value of investments may fluctuate. Past performance, projections, or forecasts included in this website should not be regarded as guarantees or indications of future performance, and no express or implied warranty is provided. The contents of this website are based on sources believed to be reliable, but due to the nature of information delivery technology and the necessity of using multiple data sources, including third party content, their accuracy is not guaranteed. The opinions expressed are as of the date shown above and may change as market conditions evolve, and are subject to change without notice. These opinions may differ from those of other Robeco investment professionals. Robeco accepts no liability for any direct, indirect, or consequential loss arising from the use of this material or any comments, opinions, or estimates contained herein. Robeco has no duty to update this website or any website content. Materials on this website may not be reproduced, distributed, or published without prior written permission from Robeco. Unless otherwise specified, Source: Robeco.
