Review of Financial Studies Vol. 36 No. 8 2023

Finding Fortune: How Do Institutional Investors Pick Asset Managers?

Gregory W. Brown¹; Oleg Gredil²; Preetesh Kantak³

¹ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kenan-Flagler Business School, and Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise , USA · ² Tulane University , A. B. Freeman School of Business, USA · ³ Indiana University , Kelley School of Business, USA

Abstract

We propose and test a framework of private information acquisition and decision timing for asset allocators hiring outside investment managers. Using unique data on due diligence interactions between an institutional allocator and 860 hedge fund managers, we find that the production of private information complements public information. The allocator strategically chooses how much proprietary information to collect, reducing due diligence time by 18 months and improving outcomes. Funds selected by the manager outperform those not selected by 9% over 20 months. The outperformance relates to the allocator learning about fund return-to-scale constraints and manager skill before other investors.

DOI

10.1093/rfs/hhac090

Volume

36

Issue

8

Pages

3071-3121

Language

en

Sources

bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite

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