# Momentum Factor

*Risk & Portfolio — Finicade finance glossary*

Momentum is the tendency for assets that performed well over the past 3–12 months to keep outperforming over the next few. It is the most persistent anomaly in the data, documented across centuries, asset classes and countries, and the most awkward for efficient-market theory. Its defining risk is the momentum crash: violent reversals at market turning points, when the losers being shorted rally hardest.

**Also known as:** momentum investing, cross-sectional momentum, Carhart factor

**Related terms:** [Fama-French Three-Factor Model](https://finicade.com/glossary/fama-french-three-factor-model), [Efficient-Market vs Factors](https://finicade.com/glossary/multi-factor-models), [Mean Reversion](https://finicade.com/glossary/mean-reversion), [Behavioral Biases](https://finicade.com/glossary/behavioral-biases), [Smart Beta](https://finicade.com/glossary/smart-beta)

Source: https://finicade.com/glossary/momentum-factor