Past research regarding incentive fees based on high-water marks has developed models for the specific characteristics of hedge funds. These theoretical models have used either discrete time or a Black–Scholes type differential equation. However, for managed futures, high-water marks are measured more frequently than for hedge funds, so a continuous-time model for managed futures may be appropriate. A knockout feature is added to a continuous model, which is something unique to managed futures although it could also have some relevance to hedge funds. The procedures allow one to derive the distribution function for the fund's survival time, which has not been derived in past research. The distribution of the maximum until ruin is derived as well, and used to provide an estimate of expected incentive fees. An estimate of the expected fixed fee is also obtained. The model shows that the expected incentive fee would be maximized if all funds were invested in margins, but for total fees to be maximized in the presence of a knockout feature, less than half of the funds should be invested. This is precisely what fund managers do. This result suggests that designing a fund with incentive fees only may cause fund managers to adopt the highest leverage, and thus, highest risk possible.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
William N. Goetzmann & Jonathan Ingersoll, Jr. & Stephen A. Ross, 1998.
"High Water Marks,"
NBER Working Papers
6413, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)