We provide the first analysis of the risk exposure and consequent risk-adjusted performance of impact investing funds, private market funds with dual financial and social goals. We introduce a new dataset of impact fund cash flows constructed from financial statements. When accounting for market...

We conduct the first comparative analysis of the financial performance of European green, black (fossil energy and natural resource) and conventional mutual funds. Based on a unique dataset of 175 green, 259 black and 976 conventional mutual funds, the investigation contrasts the financial...

This paper uses proprietary data from a leading intermediary to understand the magnitude and determinants of transaction costs in the secondary market for private equity stakes. Most transactions occur at a discount to net asset value. Buyers average an annualized public market equivalent of...

Standard measures of PE performance based on cash flows overlook discount rate risk. An index constructed from prices paid in secondary market transactions indicates that PE discount rates vary considerably. While the standard alpha for our index is zero, measures of performance based on cash...

We study the asset allocation problem of an institutional investor (LP) that invests in stocks, bonds, and private equity (PE). PE investments are risky, illiquid, and long-term. The LP repeatedly commits capital to PE funds, and this capital is gradually called and eventually distributed back...

Quantitative research analysts (Quants) produce in-depth quantitative and econometric modeling of market anomalies to assist sell-side analysts and institutional clients with stock selection strategies. Quants are associated with more efficient analyst forecasting behavior on anomaly predictors...

Theoretical models imply fund size and performance should be negatively linked. However, empiricists have failed to uncover consistent support for this negative relation. Using a new econometric framework which includes fund-specific sensitivities to decreasing returns to scale, we find a both...

When a private equity firm raises a larger fund, performance tends to decline. This pattern is usually interpreted as evidence of decreasing returns. I propose a more innocuous explanation: high-growth private equity firms were on average lucky in the past and therefore are expected to...

This paper examines net-of-fees private debt fund performance, performance persistence across funds managed by the same general partner and a general partner’s ability to time the market. We document that private debt funds outperform bond and equity market benchmarks in the cross-section,...

On average, ETFs have lower annual expense ratios than open-end mutual funds due to a few functional differences. Both have fixed and variable costs which are incorporated in the expense ratio, and the assumption is that all costs are borne by the investor. We apply previous models for open-end...