Asset owners (principals) typically do not manage their own investments and leave this job to delegated managers (agents). What is best for the asset owner, however, is usually not best for the fund manager. Additional agency conflicts arise when the asset owner does not know the quality and...

We study three fundamental components of financial agency settings: Perception and communication of investment profiles, the interaction of agents’ and clients’ preferences, and the role of (non-)monetary incentives. The perception of investment profile terminology is very heterogeneous,...

The optimal contracts in portfolio delegation under general preferences are characterized when the underlying state variable is not contractible, and the principal must rely on the final returns of portfolios to design the compensation schemes for the fund manager. We show that the optimal...

We offer evidence that the use of Relative Performance Evaluation (RPE) in CEOs' incentive contracts influences the effect of risk-taking incentives on both the magnitude and composition of firm risk. We find that when the incentive design lacks RPE features, the incentive portfolio vega...

We offer evidence that the use of Relative Performance Evaluation (RPE) in CEOs' incentive contracts influences the effect of risk-taking incentives on both the magnitude and composition of firm risk. We find that when the incentive design lacks RPE features, the incentive portfolio vega...