Great post. The risks are out there in smart beta and more so than we are able to estimate from historical data as they are based on market conditions where most did not buy it as beta. A lot of the same beta buying must deliver deminishing excess returns and higher crowding risk. The concept "Smart Alpha" where you harvest the factor premiums in different ways through active managers seems to be able to make some of the risk be less pronounced and perform better. See "Smart Beta or Smart Alpha?" Just published In Journal of Investing 2016 Spring (http://www.iijournals.com/doi/abs/10.3905/joi.2016.25.1.085?journalCode…)