← Search

Journal of Corporate Finance Vol. 69 2021

Recession managers and mutual fund performance

Jie Chen1; Meziane Lasfer2; Wei Song3; Si Zhou4,5

1 University of Leeds · 2 City, University of London · 3 University of Southampton · 4 Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University · 5 Shanghai University

open access

Abstract

We find that fund managers who began their careers during recessions produce superior returns. This superior performance is not unconditional, as they exhibit better market timing than their non-recession counterparts in recessions, but do not demonstrate better stock picking in booms. Exploring managers' portfolio choices across years, we find that recession managers tilt their investments towards defensive, rather than cyclical, industries during and before recession periods. Overall, our findings support the argument that the economic conditions under which an individual initially entered the labour market exert a long-term impact on her career outcomes and decision-making.

DOI
10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2021.102010
Volume
69
Pages
102010
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite