def factor_information_coefficient(factor_data,
                                   group_adjust=False,
                                   by_group=False):
    """
    Computes the Spearman Rank Correlation based Information Coefficient (IC)
    between factor values and N period forward returns for each period in
    the factor index.

    Parameters
    ----------
    factor_data : pd.DataFrame - MultiIndex
        A MultiIndex DataFrame indexed by date (level 0) and asset (level 1),
        containing the values for a single alpha factor, forward returns for
        each period, the factor quantile/bin that factor value belongs to, and
        (optionally) the group the asset belongs to.
        - See full explanation in utils.get_clean_factor_and_forward_returns
    group_adjust : bool
        Demean forward returns by group before computing IC.
    by_group : bool
        If True, compute period wise IC separately for each group.

    Returns
    -------
    ic : pd.DataFrame
        Spearman Rank correlation between factor and
        provided forward returns.
    """

    def src_ic(group):
        f = group['factor']
        _ic = group[utils.get_forward_returns_columns(factor_data.columns)] \
            .apply(lambda x: stats.spearmanr(x, f)[0])
        return _ic

    factor_data = factor_data.copy()

    grouper = [factor_data.index.get_level_values('date')]

    if group_adjust:
        factor_data = utils.demean_forward_returns(factor_data,
                                                   grouper + ['group'])
    if by_group:
        grouper.append('group')

    ic = factor_data.groupby(grouper).apply(src_ic)

    return ic
Computes the Spearman Rank Correlation based Information Coefficient (IC)
    between factor values and N period forward returns for each period in
    the factor index.

    Parameters
    ----------
    factor_data : pd.DataFrame - MultiIndex
        A MultiIndex DataFrame indexed by date (level 0) and asset (level 1),
        containing the values for a single alpha factor, forward returns for
        each period, the factor quantile/bin that factor value belongs to, and
        (optionally) the group the asset belongs to.
        - See full explanation in utils.get_clean_factor_and_forward_returns
    group_adjust : bool
        Demean forward returns by group before computing IC.
    by_group : bool
        If True, compute period wise IC separately for each group.

    Returns
    -------
    ic : pd.DataFrame
        Spearman Rank correlation between factor and
        provided forward returns.