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Should hedge funds be cautious reporting high returns?

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  • Auer, Benjamin R.

Abstract

In a recent article, Schuster and Auer (2012) show that fund managers with a certain positive performance need to be aware of the fact that too high prospective excess returns can lower the empirical Sharpe ratio of their funds. In this note, we investigate the empirical relevance of this effect. We analyse whether hedge funds being evaluated on the basis of the Sharpe ratio negatively influence their performance by reporting too high returns. Our results show that a economically significant number of hedge funds listed in the CISDM hedge fund database has at least once reported a high return causing this effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Auer, Benjamin R., 2014. "Should hedge funds be cautious reporting high returns?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 195-201.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:30:y:2014:i:c:p:195-201
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2013.07.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    20. Benjamin Auer, 2013. "The low return distortion of the Sharpe ratio," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 27(3), pages 299-306, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Benjamin R. Auer, 2022. "On false discoveries of standard t-tests in investment management applications," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 751-768, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sharpe ratio; Hedge funds; Performance measurement; Manipulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions

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