diff --git a/factor_attribution.py b/factor_attribution.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..add7cf4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/factor_attribution.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import io
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import pandas as pd
+
+
+def _download_kf_zip_bytes() -> bytes:
+    raise NotImplementedError
+
+
+def _parse_kf_daily_csv(raw_bytes: bytes) -> pd.DataFrame:
+    text = raw_bytes.decode("utf-8")
+    lines = [line for line in text.splitlines() if line.strip()]
+    header_index = next(i for i, line in enumerate(lines) if "Mkt-RF" in line)
+    table = "\n".join(lines[header_index:])
+    factors = pd.read_csv(io.StringIO(table))
+    factors = factors.rename(columns={"Mkt-RF": "MKT_RF"})
+    date_column = factors.columns[0]
+    factors = factors[factors[date_column].astype(str).str.fullmatch(r"\d{8}")]
+    factors[date_column] = pd.to_datetime(factors[date_column], format="%Y%m%d")
+    factors = factors.set_index(date_column)
+    factors.index.name = None
+    factors = factors.astype(float) / 100.0
+    return factors[["MKT_RF", "SMB", "HML", "RMW", "CMA", "RF"]]
+
+
+def load_external_us_factors(cache_dir: Path | str = "data/factors") -> pd.DataFrame:
+    cache_path = Path(cache_dir) / "ff5_us_daily.csv"
+    cache_path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+    try:
+        factors = _parse_kf_daily_csv(_download_kf_zip_bytes())
+        factors.to_csv(cache_path)
+        return factors
+    except Exception:
+        if cache_path.exists():
+            return pd.read_csv(cache_path, index_col=0, parse_dates=True)
+        raise
diff --git a/tests/test_factor_attribution.py b/tests/test_factor_attribution.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..81b12fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_factor_attribution.py
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+import tempfile
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+from unittest import mock
+
+import pandas as pd
+
+from factor_attribution import load_external_us_factors
+
+
+class ExternalFactorLoaderTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_load_external_us_factors_parses_percent_values_and_dates(self):
+        csv_text = (
+            "This line is ignored\n"
+            ",Mkt-RF,SMB,HML,RMW,CMA,RF\n"
+            "20260102,1.00,0.50,-0.25,0.10,-0.05,0.02\n"
+            "20260105,-0.20,0.10,0.30,-0.15,0.05,0.02\n"
+            "\n"
+        )
+
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
+            with mock.patch(
+                "factor_attribution._download_kf_zip_bytes",
+                return_value=csv_text.encode("utf-8"),
+            ):
+                factors = load_external_us_factors(cache_dir=Path(tmpdir))
+
+        self.assertListEqual(
+            list(factors.columns),
+            ["MKT_RF", "SMB", "HML", "RMW", "CMA", "RF"],
+        )
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(factors.iloc[0]["MKT_RF"], 0.01)
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(factors.iloc[0]["RF"], 0.0002)
+        self.assertEqual(str(factors.index[0].date()), "2026-01-02")
+
+    def test_load_external_us_factors_falls_back_to_cache_when_download_fails(self):
+        cached = pd.DataFrame(
+            {
+                "MKT_RF": [0.01],
+                "SMB": [0.0],
+                "HML": [0.0],
+                "RMW": [0.0],
+                "CMA": [0.0],
+                "RF": [0.0001],
+            },
+            index=pd.to_datetime(["2026-01-02"]),
+        )
+
+        with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
+            cache_dir = Path(tmpdir)
+            cached.to_csv(cache_dir / "ff5_us_daily.csv")
+            with mock.patch(
+                "factor_attribution._download_kf_zip_bytes",
+                side_effect=RuntimeError("boom"),
+            ):
+                factors = load_external_us_factors(cache_dir=cache_dir)
+
+        self.assertEqual(len(factors), 1)
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(factors.iloc[0]["MKT_RF"], 0.01)