We provide novel evidence that hedge fund performance is persistent following periods of relative hedge fund market weakness, but not following periods of relative market strength. Specifically, we construct two performance measures, DownsideReturns and UpsideReturns, conditioning on whether the overall hedge fund market return is below or above its sample median. After adjusting for risk and f...

This paper evaluates the market timing and security selection capabilities of Australian pooled superannuation funds over the eight-year period from January 1991 to December 1998. Evaluation of both components of investment performance is surprisingly scarce in the Australian literature despite active investment managers engaging in both market timing and security selection. The paper also eval...

We document that the observed persistence amongst the worst performing actively managed mutual funds is attributable to funds that have performed poorly both in the current and prior year. We demonstrate that this persistence results from an unwillingness of investors in these funds to respond to bad performance by withdrawing their capital. In contrast, funds that only performed poorly in the ...

This paper examines how hedge funds manage their market risk according to changes in aggregate liquidity conditions. Using a large sample of equity-oriented hedge funds during the period of 1994–2008, we find strong evidence that hedge-fund managers possess the ability to time market liquidity at both the style category level and the individual fund level. They increase (decrease) their portfol...

T paper formally analyzes the biases related to self-reporting in hedge fund databases by matching the quarterly equity holdings of a complete list of 13F-filing hedge fund companies to the union of five major commercial databases of self-reporting hedge funds between 1980 and 2008. We find that funds initiate selfreporting after positive abnormal returns that do not persist into the reporting ...

It is a well-known fact that actively managed mutual funds on average underperform passive benchmarks. In this paper, we use the stochastic dominance test proposed by Linton, Maasoumi, and Whang (2005) to shed new light on mutual fund performance on average and across styles. This test evaluates mutual fund performance using a non-parametric framework that 1) imposes a minimal set of conditions...

Benchmarking Non-Traditional Investments More Complex There is $2.9 trillion2 invested in hedge funds, another $200 billion3 in alternative mutual funds and a McKinsey & Company report suggests these amounts are projected to grow significantly in the coming years4. That growth is understandable given our lower for longer return expectations for traditional asset classes and the potential for en...

This discussion paper is a preliminary version designed to generate ideas and constructive comment. The contents of the paper are presented to the reader in good faith, and neither the author, the ISMA Centre, nor the University, will be held responsible for any losses, financial or otherwise, resulting from actions taken on the basis of its content. Any persons reading the paper are deemed to ...

H edge funds often make headlines because of spectacular losses or spectacular gains. In September 2006, a large hedge fund, Amaranth, reported losses of more than $6 billion apparently incurred in only one month, representing a negative return over that month of roughly 66 percent. Earlier in the year, newspapers focused on the $1.4 billion compensation in 2005 of hedge fund manager Boone Pick...

A lockup period for investment in a hedge fund is a time period after making the investment during which the investor cannot freely redeem his investment. It is routine to have a one-year lockup period, but recently the requested lockup periods have grown longer. We estimate the premium for such extended lockup, taking the point of view of a manager of a fund of funds, who has to choose between...