Using new data on the hedge fund investments of institutional investors, this paper is the first to examine the determinants and consequences of intermediation in the hedge fund industry. Our empirical analysis reveals several findings consistent with predictions from the theoretical literature....

Using new data on the hedge fund investments of institutional investors, this paper is the first to examine the determinants and consequences of intermediation in the hedge fund industry. Our empirical analysis reveals several findings consistent with predictions from the theoretical literature....

CAPM alpha explains hedge fund flows better than alphas from more sophisticated models. This suggests that investors pool together sophisticated model alpha with returns from exposures to traditional (except for the market) and exotic risks. We decompose performance into traditional and exotic...

Hedge fund flows chase alpha, yet they also follow returns attributable to traditional and exotic risk exposures. Investors appear more cognizant of exotic risks over time, with flows increasing their relative emphasis on returns from exotic betas in recent years. Investors also discriminate...

We develop a new tail risk measure for hedge funds to examine the impact of tail risk on fund performance and to identify the sources of tail risk. We find that tail risk affects the cross-sectional variation in fund returns, and investments in both, tailsensitive stocks as well as options,...

This paper investigates empirically whether uncertainty about volatility of the market portfolio can explain the performance of hedge funds both in the cross-section and over time. We measure uncertainty about volatility of the market portfolio via volatility of aggregate volatility (VOV) and...