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Diversification in the hedge fund industry

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  • Shawky, Hany A.
  • Dai, Na
  • Cumming, Douglas

Abstract

We provide evidence of a significant relation between diversification and performance in the hedge fund industry. Measuring diversification across four distinct dimensions, we find a significant positive relation between hedge fund performance and diversification across sectors and asset classes. We show that on a risk adjusted basis, hedge funds that diversify across sectors and asset classes outperform other funds by an average of 1.1% per year. However, diversification across styles and geographies exhibits a significant negative association with hedge fund returns. Funds that diversify across styles and geographies underperform other funds by an average of 1% per year. For fund of hedge funds, we find a significant positive relation between performance and diversification across sectors. However, diversifying across asset classes and geographies is found to exhibit a negative relation with fund performance. Finally, we find that the motive to engage in diversification is consistent with managerial incentive structure in the hedge fund industry.

Suggested Citation

  • Shawky, Hany A. & Dai, Na & Cumming, Douglas, 2012. "Diversification in the hedge fund industry," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 166-178.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:18:y:2012:i:1:p:166-178
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2011.11.006
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    Cited by:

    1. Newton, David & Platanakis, Emmanouil & Stafylas, Dimitrios & Sutcliffe, Charles & Ye, Xiaoxia, 2021. "Hedge fund strategies, performance &diversification: A portfolio theory & stochastic discount factor approach," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(5).
    2. Andrew W. Lo & Mila Getmansky & Peter A. Lee, 2015. "Hedge Funds: A Dynamic Industry in Transition," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 483-577, December.
    3. Agarwal, Vikas & Mullally, Kevin A. & Naik, Narayan Y., 2015. "The Economics and Finance of Hedge Funds: A Review of the Academic Literature," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 10(1), pages 1-111, December.
    4. Buchner, Axel & Mohamed, Abdulkadir & Schwienbacher, Armin, 2020. "Herd behaviour in buyout investments," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    5. Lan T.P. Nguyen & Malick O. Sy & Cheng M. Yu & Sayed Hossain & Tan B. Chen, 2019. "Are Funds of Hedge Funds Efficient? An Empirical Analysis for North American, Asia Pacific, and European Long/Short Funds of Hedge Funds," Multinational Finance Journal, Multinational Finance Journal, vol. 23(1-2), pages 37-64, March - J.
    6. Fabio Pizzutilo, 2017. "Measuring the under-diversification of socially responsible investments," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(14), pages 1005-1018, August.
    7. Casavecchia, Lorenzo & Ge, Chanyuan, 2019. "Jack of all trades versus specialists: Fund family specialization and mutual fund performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 69-85.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Diversification; Specialization; Hedge funds; Fund of funds; Asset size; Performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates

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