This paper investigates the effects of relative performance concerns on fund managers’ behavior when managers are heterogeneous in their risk management practices. We find that relative performance concerns have distinct effects on different managers as follows: managers without risk management constraints conduct risk management, while those with risk management constraints do not change their trading. Our results suggest that a small number of fund managers with risk management requirements can have a significant impact on the market. Our theory can potentially reconcile the long-lasting debate regarding the impact of risk management on financial markets.

We study the impact of macroeconomic and financial uncertainties on cross-sectional returns in the Chinese stock market. We find that stocks with a lower macroeconomic uncertainty beta generate higher excess returns, implying that macroeconomic uncertainty commands a negative risk premium. Meanwhile, the exposure to financial uncertainty is not priced in stock returns. Unlike financial uncertainty, macroeconomic uncertainty is a state variable that predicts a deterioration in economic activity, suggesting that investors require a premium for holding stocks that correlate negatively with it.