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Does Secrecy Signal Skill? Characteristics and Performance of Secretive Hedge Funds

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  • Kuzmina, Olga
  • Kelly, Patrick
  • Gorovyy, Sergiy

Abstract

Using a proprietary database that tracks secrecy with respect to a hedge fund's own investors, we find few benefits to own-investor secrecy. These findings contrast with research on secrecy regarding public disclosure. Secretive funds do not outperform transparent funds, and significantly underperform their strategy-matched peers through the financial crisis, consistent with secretive funds loading on unmeasured risks, but inconsistent with own-investor secrecy signalling skill. Though no different in terms of portfolio concentration and leverage, secretive funds are larger, less liquid, more complex, and more likely to file 13F disclosures and request confidential treatment from those disclosures. Secretive funds have lower flow-to-performance sensitivity, even controlling for illiquidity, suggesting that investors do view secretive and transparent funds differently.

Suggested Citation

  • Kuzmina, Olga & Kelly, Patrick & Gorovyy, Sergiy, 2020. "Does Secrecy Signal Skill? Characteristics and Performance of Secretive Hedge Funds," CEPR Discussion Papers 14873, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14873
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kuzmina, Olga & Melentyeva, Valentina, 2020. "Gender diversity in corporate boards: Evidence from quota-implied discontinuities," CEPR Discussion Papers 14942, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Nicolas P. B. Bollen & Mark C. Hutchinson & John O'Brien, 2021. "When it pays to follow the crowd: Strategy conformity and CTA performance," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(6), pages 875-894, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hedge funds; Disclosure; Secrecy; transparency; Risk premia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • 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
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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