Title
Biases in the performance of asset managers
Date Issued
01 January 2013
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
National Academy of Management Vul
Abstract
This paper illustrates 2 main issues in the performance of asset managers: the first one is that there are large and statistically significant biases in the performance evaluation of mutual funds undertaken by Morningstar and Lipper Analytical Services. The second issue is that managers deviate from their claimed benchmark. We find that, on average, the bias is about 0.7% per annum and, when using a correct procedure to evaluate, managers convert a positive alpha to a negative one in most of the funds. The procedure to provide more accurate performance evaluation also reveals that managers systematically deviate from their claimed asset class. This deviation from asset class is an indication of principal agent conflict. In the attempt to obtain better performance, managers, also called agents, undertake riskier strategies to invest in assets to the detriment of investors who pay the consequences during downturns when their investments drop more than the benchmark. Along the way, managers have earned fees on larger funds than their performance, if correctly measured, would justify. Lack of clarity and information in the A.M. industry allows these conflicts to persist. © Francisco Delgado, Jorge Guillen, 2013.
Start page
283
End page
295
Volume
148
Issue
10
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Econometría
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84923654854
Source
Actual Problems of Economics
ISSN of the container
19936788
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus