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The low return distortion of the Sharpe ratio

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  • Benjamin Auer

Abstract

This article formalizes the undesirable property of the Sharpe ratio that a fund with a certain poor performance can increase its Sharpe ratio in a prospective period by generating a sufficiently negative excess return. Specifically, we set out the conditions that a fund must meet to be exposed to this kind of effect. Furthermore, we provide a formal statement of the excess return value that needs to be deceeded to obtain a higher Sharpe ratio. In an empirical application, we investigate the practical relevance of this kind of distortion. We find that an economically significant number of funds listed in the CISDM hedge fund database have at least once reported a sufficiently negative return, causing an increased Sharpe ratio fund performance. Copyright Swiss Society for Financial Market Research 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin Auer, 2013. "The low return distortion of the Sharpe ratio," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 27(3), pages 299-306, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:fmktpm:v:27:y:2013:i:3:p:299-306
    DOI: 10.1007/s11408-013-0213-x
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    11. Meyer, Jack, 1987. "Two-moment Decision Models and Expected Utility Maximization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(3), pages 421-430, June.
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    13. Martin Eling, 2006. "Performance measurement of hedge funds using data envelopment analysis," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 20(4), pages 442-471, December.
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    17. Martin Eling, 2009. "Does Hedge Fund Performance Persist? Overview and New Empirical Evidence," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 15(2), pages 362-401, March.
    18. Schuster, Martin & Auer, Benjamin R., 2012. "A note on empirical Sharpe ratio dynamics," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 124-128.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zhang, Hanxiong & Auer, Benjamin R. & Vortelinos, Dimitrios I., 2018. "Performance ranking (dis)similarities in commodity markets," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 115-137.
    2. Auer, Benjamin R., 2015. "Does the choice of performance measure influence the evaluation of commodity investments?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 142-150.
    3. Auer, Benjamin R. & Marohn, Marcel, 2024. "Computational dynamics of information ratios," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    4. Auer, Benjamin R., 2014. "Should hedge funds be cautious reporting high returns?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 195-201.
    5. Auer, Benjamin R. & Schuhmacher, Frank, 2013. "Performance hypothesis testing with the Sharpe ratio: The case of hedge funds," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 196-208.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sharpe ratio; Performance measurement; Manipulation; Hedge funds; G10; G11;
    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

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