On the Other Side of Hedge Fund Equity Trades
45 Pages Posted: 4 Jan 2019 Last revised: 30 Nov 2020
Date Written: November 17, 2020
Abstract
Hedge funds earn positive ex-post abnormal returns and avoid negative abnormal returns on their equity portfolios when trading in the opposite direction of highly-diversified low-turnover institutional investors (quasi-indexers). This pattern is pronounced for short- and long-term holding periods, as well as if trading is conditional on return predictability associated with well-known market anomalies. It seems to be driven by the preferences of quasi-indexers for liquid, high-market-beta stocks, which tend to exhibit low future abnormal returns. Trading against other institutional investors or non-institutions does not result in abnormal performance for hedge funds.
Keywords: Institutional Trading, Alpha, Market Beta, Market Anomalies, Quasi-Indexers, Hedge Funds
JEL Classification: G12, G14, G23
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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