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Portfolio Performance and Agency

Philip H. Dybvig; Heber Farnsworth1; Jennifer N. Carpenter

1 Washington University in St. Louis

Review of Financial Studies 2010

In this paper we analyze the optimal contract for a portfolio manager who can exert effort to improve the quality of a private signal about future market prices. We assume complete markets over states distinguished by asset payoffs and place no restrictions on the form of the contract. We show that trading restrictions are essential because they prevent the manager from undoing the incentive effects of performance-based fees. We provide conditions under which simple benchmarking emerges as optimal compensation. Additional incentives to take risk are necessary when information can be manipulated or else the manager will understate information to offset the benchmarking.

DOI
10.1093/rfs/hhp056
Volume
23 (1)
Pages
1-23
Language
en
Export
BibTeX
Sources
crossref openalex