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Review of Financial Studies Vol. 23 No. 6 2010

Side-by-Side Management of Hedge Funds and Mutual Funds

Tom Nohel1; Z. Jay Wang2; Lu Zheng3

1 Loyola University · 2 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · 3 University of California, Irvine

Abstract

We examine situations where the same fund manager simultaneously manages mutual funds and hedge funds. We refer to this as side-by-side management. We document 344 such cases involving 693 mutual funds and 538 hedge funds. Proponents of this practice argue that it is essential to hire and retain star performers. Detractors argue that the temptation for abuse is high, and the practice should be banned. Our analysis based on various performance metrics shows that side-by-side mutual fund managers significantly outperform peer funds, consistent with this privilege being granted primarily to star performers. Interestingly, side-by-side hedge fund managers are at best on par with their style category peers, casting further doubt on the idea that conflicts of interest undermine mutual fund investors. Thus, we find no evidence of welfare loss for mutual fund investors due to exploitation of conflicts of interest.

DOI
10.1093/rfs/hhq008
Volume
23
Issue
6
Pages
2342-2373
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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