Using a large sample of institutional investors' investments in private equity funds raised between 1991 and 2011, we estimate the extent to which investors' skill affects their returns. Bootstrap analyses show that the variance of actual performance is higher than would be expected by chance,...

We investigate the role of alumni ties in university endowments' decision to invest into private equity funds. Based on a sample of 1,590 commitments made by 189 U.S. endowments into 613 funds during the period of 1995 to 2017, we show that endowments are more likely to invest into funds that...

We compare the characteristics of conglomerates and private equity entities. This is done by examining the differences among their business models. We analyze the relations of the two entity types to their investors on the one hand and to their investments on the other hand. The distinguishing...

The importance of private fund investor due diligence in the investment allocation process, in capital formation, and in private fund litigation has reached unprecedented levels and is further increasing. To provide the industry with data, data trend analyses, and guidance on applicable legal...

General Partners (GPs) in private equity face a trade-off between focusing their skills and effort on fewer investments to earn higher returns, or investing more broadly to reduce risk through diversification. Using a novel, deal-level dataset of 5,925 global investments from 1999 to 2016, we...

I propose a new investor sentiment measurement for the private equity market based on over 12,000 private equity deals from 68 countries over 1992 to 2012. The data indicate that institutional environments and firm-specific characteristics are both strong determinants of the private equity...

This paper examines investment patterns of 50 sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) in nations around the world. We study investment by SWFs in 903 public and private firms over the period 1984-2009. As expected, we observe SWFs investments are more often in private firms when the market returns of...

Consistent with Chevalier and Ellison (1999), we find that mutual fund managers with degrees from elite universities tend to outperform their counterparts from less elite universities. The abnormal performance can be characterized as “fast performance,” the stocks they select realize excess...

Over the past twenty years, colleges have invested an increasing share of their endowment assets in “alternative investments.” Prior to 2009, an alternatives emphasis had been widely credited for the sterling endowment investment returns earned by many colleges. However, with college...

We present evidence that equity momentum strategies are partially driven by positive-feedback trading intermediated via the mutual fund sector. We identify a U.S.-specific structural break to this channel that substantially weakened the relationship between fund flows and past style returns. As...