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....

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 provide evidence on the valuation of equity positions by hedge funds. Reported valuations deviate from standard valuations based on closing prices from CRSP for roughly seven percent of the positions. These equity valuation deviations are positively related to illiquidity and price volatility...

We show that the magnitude of the value premium over 1968-2018 is conditional on states of aggregate market-wide misvaluation. The value premium is 3.42% per month following market-wide undervaluation and 1.70% per month following market-wide overvaluation. When the aggregate market is neither...