Active Management
As capital markets have continued to evolve the role of active asset management has changed. Increasingly investment decisions are made across a range of liquid, semi-liquid, and illiquid investment vehicles that span public and private markets. The Active Management Research Alliance seeks to better understand how the investment management process is impacted by the increased adoption of “alternative investments.”
The primary area of focus currently is the intersection of public and private markets and the role of hedge funds in the financial intermediation process. The Hedge Fund industry has grown to over 3 trillion USD in assets under management yet research on investment strategies and portfolio benefits related to hedge funds has lagged this growth. The deficit is largely due to low-quality data on funds because of limited public disclosure requirements. AMRA works with industry partners to expand the breadth and depth of hedge fund data available to academic researchers.
Latest Active Management Research
The Performance of Small Business Investment Companies
We utilize results of a survey of Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs), along with data from MSCI-Burgiss, to perform a novel analysis of SBIC performance. Overall, we find via the survey that SBIC funds outperform comparable non-SBIC peers by an average of around 4%...
Board Diversity in Private Vs. Public Firms
We test whether differences in ownership structure influence race and gender diversity in corporate boards. We find that privately-owned, venture-backed companies appoint a lower proportion of minorities and women to their boards compared to publicly traded firms. More
How Do Financial Expertise and Networks Affect Investing? Evidence from University Endowments
Working Paper
We examine the links between human capital and endowment investing. Harnessing detailed information on university endowments, we find that higher asset allocations to alternative assets accompany higher levels of human capital in the endowment’s investment process. Moreover, high levels of human capital are linked to larger returns, even on a risk-adjusted basis. More