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Skewness Consequences of Seeking Alpha

Author

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  • Kerry Back
  • Alan D Crane
  • Kevin Crotty

Abstract

Mutual funds seek alpha, but coskewness is also an important performance attribute. Coskewness of fund returns is associated with market timing, liquidity management, and derivative use. Measures of active management associated with positive alphas are also associated with undesirable coskewness. When controlling for other characteristics, coskewness is positively associated with activity measures related to market timing and negatively associated with activity measures related to stock picking. In the cross-section of funds, the latter effect dominates, so funds generate undesirable coskewness in the pursuit of alpha. Money flows to funds with desirable coskewness. Received October 25, 2016; editorial decision January 29, 2018 by Editor Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web Site next to the link to the final published paper online.

Suggested Citation

  • Kerry Back & Alan D Crane & Kevin Crotty, 2018. "Skewness Consequences of Seeking Alpha," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(12), pages 4720-4761.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:31:y:2018:i:12:p:4720-4761.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rfs/hhy029
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    Cited by:

    1. Ding, Jing & Jiang, Lei & Liu, Xiaohui & Peng, Liang, 2023. "Nonparametric tests for market timing ability using daily mutual fund returns," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    2. Liu, Weiyi & Liu, Yangyi & Luo, Ronghua & Ding, Yue, 2021. "Ability parity model for optimal fund allocation: Evidence from China's mutual fund markets," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(C).
    3. Paul Karehnke & Frans de Roon, 2020. "Spanning Tests for Assets with Option-Like Payoffs: The Case of Hedge Funds," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(12), pages 5969-5989, December.
    4. Andrea J. Heuson & Mark C. Hutchinson & Alok Kumar, 2020. "Predicting hedge fund performance when fund returns are skewed," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 49(4), pages 877-896, December.
    5. Racicot, François-Éric & Théoret, Raymond & Gregoriou, Greg N., 2021. "The response of hedge fund higher moment risk to macroeconomic and illiquidity shocks," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 289-318.
    6. Khashanah, Khaldoun & Simaan, Majeed & Simaan, Yusif, 2022. "Do we need higher-order comoments to enhance mean-variance portfolios? Evidence from a simplified jump process," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).

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