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Assessing the Performance of Funds of Hedge Funds

Author

Listed:
  • Benoît Dewaele
  • Hugues Pirotte
  • N. Tuchschmid
  • E. Wallerstein

Abstract

This paper studies the performance of a sample of funds of hedge funds (FoHFs) from January 1994 to August 2009. We apply the false discoveries (FD) technique of Barras, Scaillet and Wermers (2010) to separate the FoHFs into skilled, zero-alpha and unskilled. We measure the alpha of the FoHFs using two models – (1) a 16-factor model with a combination of factors from Fung and Hsieh (2004) and Capocci, Corhay and Hübner (2005) and (2) a 13-factor model of hedge fund indices from Dow Jones Credit Suisse. Applying the FD procedure to the first model, we find that, after fees, the majority of FoHFs do not channel alpha from single-manager hedge funds. Applying the FD procedure to the second model, we find that only a very small fraction of FoHFs deliver after-fees alpha per se, i.e. on top of the alpha of the hedge fund indices. A series of robustness checks confirms the results of the FD procedure. We also compare the performance of our sample of FoHFs to artificial FoHFs constructed by randomly picking hedge funds. The lack of significant differences in the average performance of the real and artificial FoHFs confirms the results obtained by the FD procedure.

Suggested Citation

  • Benoît Dewaele & Hugues Pirotte & N. Tuchschmid & E. Wallerstein, 2011. "Assessing the Performance of Funds of Hedge Funds," Working Papers CEB 11-041, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    • Handle: RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/97544
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Cauchie, Severine & Hoesli, Martin & Isakov, Dusan, 2004. "The determinants of stock returns in a small open economy," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 167-185.
    2. Laurent Barras & Olivier Scaillet & Russ Wermers, 2010. "False Discoveries in Mutual Fund Performance: Measuring Luck in Estimated Alphas," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(1), pages 179-216, February.
    3. Jonathan B. Berk & Richard C. Green, 2004. "Mutual Fund Flows and Performance in Rational Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(6), pages 1269-1295, December.
    4. Robert Kosowski & Allan Timmermann & Russ Wermers & Hal White, 2006. "Can Mutual Fund “Stars” Really Pick Stocks? New Evidence from a Bootstrap Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2551-2595, December.
    5. John D. Storey, 2002. "A direct approach to false discovery rates," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 64(3), pages 479-498, August.
    6. Vikas Agarwal, 2004. "Risks and Portfolio Decisions Involving Hedge Funds," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 17(1), pages 63-98.
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    8. Andrews, Donald W K, 1991. "Heteroskedasticity and Autocorrelation Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimation," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(3), pages 817-858, May.
    9. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
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    Blog mentions

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    1. Monkey see, monkey do
      by Tfoui in The Fount of Useless Information on 2012-01-30 18:00:00

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hedge funds; funds of funds; selection bias; abnormal returns; zero-alpha; skilled and unskilled performance; false discoveries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General

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