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A tale of feedback trading by hedge funds

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  • Schauten, Marc B.J.
  • Willemstein, Robin
  • Zwinkels, Remco C.J.

Abstract

This paper studies the extent of feedback trading at the factor level by hedge fund managers. We show that fund managers continuously adjust their exposure to different risk factors conditional on the recent performance of these factors. The majority of managers apply a positive feedback strategy, whereas the remaining managers use a negative feedback strategy. In addition, we find some evidence for factor timing ability, although managers appear to be more backward looking than forward looking. We show that positive feedback trading can be beneficial to fund performance in our setup. If managers applied the positive feedback strategy more aggressively, however, they could benefit more from it. As such, the “smart switching benchmark” can be used to assess the risk-adjusted performance of hedge funds.

Suggested Citation

  • Schauten, Marc B.J. & Willemstein, Robin & Zwinkels, Remco C.J., 2015. "A tale of feedback trading by hedge funds," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 239-259.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:34:y:2015:i:c:p:239-259
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2015.05.006
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    Cited by:

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    2. Soumaya Ben Khelife & Christian Urom & Khaled Guesmi & Ramzi Benkraiem, 2022. "American hedge funds industry, market timing and COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 23(5), pages 390-399, September.
    3. Philip A. Stork & Milan Vidojevic & Remco C. J. Zwinkels, 2021. "Behavioral heterogeneity in return expectations across equity style portfolios," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 21(4), pages 1225-1250, December.
    4. Massimo Guidolin & Alexei Orlov, 2020. "Are Unconventional Monetary Policies a Priced Risk Factor for Hedge Fund Strategies?," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 20146, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    5. Osinga, Albert Jakob & Schauten, Marc B.J. & Zwinkels, Remco C.J., 2021. "Timing is money: The factor timing ability of hedge fund managers," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 266-281.
    6. Saskia ter Ellen & Willem F. C. Verschoor, 2018. "Heterogeneous Beliefs and Asset Price Dynamics: A Survey of Recent Evidence," Dynamic Modeling and Econometrics in Economics and Finance, in: Fredj Jawadi (ed.), Uncertainty, Expectations and Asset Price Dynamics, pages 53-79, Springer.
    7. Katarzyna Kubiszewska & Rafał Komorowski, 2016. "An Assessment of Islamic Banking in Bosnia and Herzegovina – a comparative analysis using the CAMELS approach," International Economics, University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology, issue 16, pages 367-387, December.
    8. Saskia ter Ellen & Willem F.C. Verschoor, 2017. "Heterogeneous beliefs and asset price dynamics: a survey of recent evidence," Working Paper 2017/22, Norges Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hedge funds; Style analysis; Feedback trading; Time variation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors

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