Non-Parametric Analysis of Hedge Fund Returns : New Insights from High Frequency Data

This paper examines four daily hedge fund return indices: MSCI, FTSE, Dow Jones, and HFRX, all based on investable hedge funds, and three monthly hedge fund return indices: CSFB Tremont, CISDM, and HFR, which comprise both investable and non-investable hedge funds. Our study, based on standard statistical analysis, non-parametric analysis of the return distribution, and non-parametric regressions with respect to the Samp;P 500 index shows that key biases like fund selection, asset liquidity, data frequency, sample period, and index construction methodologies are responsible for different statistical properties of hedge fund indices. One key variable that highly affects the statistical properties of hedge fund index returns is the ldquo;investabilityrdquo; of hedge fund indices