Time-Varying Fund Manager Skill

60 Pages Posted: 16 Nov 2011 Last revised: 6 Dec 2012

See all articles by Marcin T. Kacperczyk

Marcin T. Kacperczyk

Imperial College London - Accounting, Finance, and Macroeconomics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh

Columbia University Graduate School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); ABFER

Laura Veldkamp

Columbia University - Columbia Business School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 4 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 5, 2012

Abstract

We propose a new definition of skill as a general cognitive ability to either pick stocks or time the market at different times. We find evidence for stock picking in booms and for market timing in recessions. Moreover, the same fund managers that pick stocks well in expansions also time the market well in recessions. These fund managers significantly outperform other funds and passive benchmarks. Our results suggest a new measure of managerial ability that gives more weight to a fund’s market timing in recessions and to a fund’s stock picking in booms. The measure displays far more persistence than either market timing or stock picking alone and can predict fund performance.

Keywords: mutual funds, skills, business cycle

JEL Classification: G12, G14, G23

Suggested Citation

Kacperczyk, Marcin T. and Van Nieuwerburgh, Stijn and Veldkamp, Laura, Time-Varying Fund Manager Skill (December 5, 2012). Journal of Finance, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1959902 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1959902

Marcin T. Kacperczyk (Contact Author)

Imperial College London - Accounting, Finance, and Macroeconomics ( email )

South Kensington campus
London SW7 2AZ
United Kingdom

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh

Columbia University Graduate School of Business ( email )

3022 Broadway
Uris Hall 809
New York, NY New York 10027
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/svannieuwerburgh/

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

ABFER ( email )

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Singapore

Laura Veldkamp

Columbia University - Columbia Business School ( email )

3022 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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