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In addition, it has long been recognized that fund sponsors and portfolio managers may have incentives to favor their most lucrative clients over others when opportunities arise, such as when allocating trades across accounts or allocating shares of some hot IPO. The incentives arise because the typical incentive fee component of hedge fund compensation is large (traditionally 20 percent).
Taking advantage of these required disclosures, Diane Del Guercio, Egemen Genç and Hai Tran, the authors of the May 2016 study Playing Favorites: Conflicts of Interest in Mutual Fund Management, investigated whether side-by-side management harmed or benefited mutual fund performance. Using fund prospectuses from 2005 to 2011, the authors hand-collected data on other accounts managed at the manager level for each active domestic equity mutual fund in the 30 largest fund families, which as of March 2005 accounted for 74 percent of total assets under management in the mutual fund industry.
Interestingly, and likely a surprise to most investors, the authors found that “it is reasonably common for managers to have day-to-day responsibility for assets outside the mutual fund industry. Fifty-seven percent of fund managers manage other pooled investment vehicles and 67% manage other separate accounts…. On average, 76% of a manager’s total assets under management are mutual funds, and therefore 24% are outside the fund industry in pooled investment vehicles and separate accounts.”
These are large figures, highlighting the importance of the study. The following is a summary of the authors’ findings:
The authors concluded: “These results support the focus on hedge funds in the side-by-side literature, as these are the only account type consistent with a conflict of interest. Moreover, we can rule out the alternative explanation that simply adding more assets under management leads to underperformance. Rather, the results specifically point to a performance decline only when the manager begins simultaneous management of a hedge fund.” They did add that “none of the other mutual funds managed by the same family are measurably affected.”
Also of interest is that the authors found “the underperformance of side-by-side management is effectively mitigated if the manager has an above-median percentage of assets within the mutual fund industry.” And they found the same result if “the manager’s fund has a greater percentage of direct-sold assets, or a lower percentage of broker-sold assets.” It should be no surprise that the negative effect of the manager’s conflict of interest wasn’t apparent when the manager had more to lose if their mutual funds underperformed. Fund sponsors are well aware of evidence showing that direct-sold funds have clients who are more sensitive to past risk-adjusted performance.
As the authors explain: “Managers are presumably reluctant to shift performance away from the mutual fund if poor performance is likely to result in significant outflows and potential career consequences. In sum, our results suggest that counteracting incentives can help alleviate conflicts of interest due to side-by-side management.”
Del Guercio, Genç and Tran also investigated whether side-by-side funds have greater underperformance when the manager has greater opportunities, or discretion, to cross-subsidize. They considered two types of opportunities: the degree of discretionary transactions allowed by the advisory firm and whether a side-by-side fund is managed by either a single manager or a team of managers who all have responsibility for the same hedge fund accounts.
They explain: “The SEC requires advisory firms to disclose in ADV forms whether they engage in transactions where there is potential to benefit themselves or particular clients at the expense of others (e.g., conduct agency cross-trades between different client accounts). Advisors with such policies provide managers with more trade discretion and opportunities to favor the interests of more profitable clients (i.e., hedge funds) over those of other clients such as mutual funds. Moreover, if not all managers on a team share in the benefits accruing to a favored hedge fund, it might be more difficult for the hedge fund manager(s) to gain the tacit cooperation of their fellow mutual fund managers.”
It should be no surprise that the authors found “stronger underperformance in a side-by-side fund if its advisory firm allows greater discretionary transactions, or if the fund is managed by either a single manager or same-team managers.” They concluded: “Together, the results suggest that managers do not favor hedge funds if it is more difficult to do so or if they have greater concerns about the negative consequences of poor mutual fund performance. These results are also suggestive of deliberate cross-subsidization on the manager’s part.” Finally, the authors also concluded that: “Overall, our results cast doubt on the effectiveness of the monitoring and governance mechanisms that advisory firms put in place to mitigate the conflicts of interest due to side-by-side management.”
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In addition, it has long been recognized that fund sponsors and portfolio managers may have incentives to favor their most lucrative clients over others when opportunities arise, such as when allocating trades across accounts or allocating shares of some hot IPO. The incentives arise because the typical incentive fee component of hedge fund compensation is large (traditionally 20 percent).
Taking advantage of these required disclosures, Diane Del Guercio, Egemen Genç and Hai Tran, the authors of the May 2016 study Playing Favorites: Conflicts of Interest in Mutual Fund Management, investigated whether side-by-side management harmed or benefited mutual fund performance. Using fund prospectuses from 2005 to 2011, the authors hand-collected data on other accounts managed at the manager level for each active domestic equity mutual fund in the 30 largest fund families, which as of March 2005 accounted for 74 percent of total assets under management in the mutual fund industry.
Interestingly, and likely a surprise to most investors, the authors found that “it is reasonably common for managers to have day-to-day responsibility for assets outside the mutual fund industry. Fifty-seven percent of fund managers manage other pooled investment vehicles and 67% manage other separate accounts…. On average, 76% of a manager’s total assets under management are mutual funds, and therefore 24% are outside the fund industry in pooled investment vehicles and separate accounts.”
These are large figures, highlighting the importance of the study. The following is a summary of the authors’ findings:
The authors concluded: “These results support the focus on hedge funds in the side-by-side literature, as these are the only account type consistent with a conflict of interest. Moreover, we can rule out the alternative explanation that simply adding more assets under management leads to underperformance. Rather, the results specifically point to a performance decline only when the manager begins simultaneous management of a hedge fund.” They did add that “none of the other mutual funds managed by the same family are measurably affected.”
Also of interest is that the authors found “the underperformance of side-by-side management is effectively mitigated if the manager has an above-median percentage of assets within the mutual fund industry.” And they found the same result if “the manager’s fund has a greater percentage of direct-sold assets, or a lower percentage of broker-sold assets.” It should be no surprise that the negative effect of the manager’s conflict of interest wasn’t apparent when the manager had more to lose if their mutual funds underperformed. Fund sponsors are well aware of evidence showing that direct-sold funds have clients who are more sensitive to past risk-adjusted performance.
As the authors explain: “Managers are presumably reluctant to shift performance away from the mutual fund if poor performance is likely to result in significant outflows and potential career consequences. In sum, our results suggest that counteracting incentives can help alleviate conflicts of interest due to side-by-side management.”
Del Guercio, Genç and Tran also investigated whether side-by-side funds have greater underperformance when the manager has greater opportunities, or discretion, to cross-subsidize. They considered two types of opportunities: the degree of discretionary transactions allowed by the advisory firm and whether a side-by-side fund is managed by either a single manager or a team of managers who all have responsibility for the same hedge fund accounts.
They explain: “The SEC requires advisory firms to disclose in ADV forms whether they engage in transactions where there is potential to benefit themselves or particular clients at the expense of others (e.g., conduct agency cross-trades between different client accounts). Advisors with such policies provide managers with more trade discretion and opportunities to favor the interests of more profitable clients (i.e., hedge funds) over those of other clients such as mutual funds. Moreover, if not all managers on a team share in the benefits accruing to a favored hedge fund, it might be more difficult for the hedge fund manager(s) to gain the tacit cooperation of their fellow mutual fund managers.”
It should be no surprise that the authors found “stronger underperformance in a side-by-side fund if its advisory firm allows greater discretionary transactions, or if the fund is managed by either a single manager or same-team managers.” They concluded: “Together, the results suggest that managers do not favor hedge funds if it is more difficult to do so or if they have greater concerns about the negative consequences of poor mutual fund performance. These results are also suggestive of deliberate cross-subsidization on the manager’s part.” Finally, the authors also concluded that: “Overall, our results cast doubt on the effectiveness of the monitoring and governance mechanisms that advisory firms put in place to mitigate the conflicts of interest due to side-by-side management.”
Receive email updates about best performers, news, CE accredited webcasts and more.
News
Justin Kuepper
|
Municipal bonds have been a safe haven within fixed income markets that have...
Kristan Wojnar, RCC™
|
We are exploring the topics of virtual nonverbal communication, getting your blogs to...
Justin Kuepper
|
Let’s take a look at a few key pieces of advice to stop...
Find out why $30 trillon is invested in mutual funds.
Download our free report
Find out why $30 trillon is invested in mutual funds.
Download our free report
Find out why $30 trillon is invested in mutual funds.
Mutual Fund Education
Justin Kuepper
|
Let's take a closer look at how ESG investments have outperformed during the...
Mutual Fund Education
Daniel Cross
|
While CITs and mutual funds share many similarities, there are some key differences...
Mutual Fund Education
Sam Bourgi
|
The phrase ‘bear market’ has been thrown around a lot lately, but it...