"Hedge fund managers are compensated via management fees on the assets under management (AUM) and incentive fees indexed to the high-water mark (HWM). We study the effects of managerial skills (alpha) and compensation on dynamic leverage choices and the valuation of fees and investors' payoffs....

We investigate an alternative economic channel of a positive relationship between risk and compensation, as documented by Cheng, Hong, and Scheinkman (2015). We propose that when information asymmetry exists, firms generally seek to use compensation as a signal of their CEOs' ability. The risks...