Strategic Asset Allocation in Money Management
Author(s): Suleyman Basak, Dmitry Makarov
CEPR Discussion Paper Number 8457
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Programme Area(s): Financial Economics (FE)
Date of Publication: 01/06/2011
Keyword(s): fund flows, incentives, Money Managers, portfolio choice, relative performance, risk shifting, strategic interactions, tournaments
JEL(s): C61, C73, D81, G11, G20
Abstract: Money managers behave strategically when competing for fund flows within relatively small groups. We study strategic interaction between two risk-averse managers in continuous time, characterizing analytically their unique equilibrium dynamic investments. Driven by chasing and contrarian mechanisms when one is well ahead, they gamble in the opposite direction when their performances are close. We also discuss multiple and mixed-strategy equilibria. Equilibrium policy of each crucially depends on the opponent’s risk attitude. Hence, client investors, concerned about how a strategic manager may trade on their behalf, should also learn competitors’ characteristics--as against non-strategic settings, where knowing a manager’s own characteristics suffices to determine behavior.
* CEPR Research Fellows and Affiliates, Corporate Members and Subscribers can download papers without charge. Individual Papers may be purchased at www.cepr.org
Author(s): Suleyman Basak, Dmitry Makarov
CEPR Discussion Paper Number 8457
Paper Details | PDF Download* | Purchase Electronic | Purchase Printed
Programme Area(s): Financial Economics (FE)
Date of Publication: 01/06/2011
Keyword(s): fund flows, incentives, Money Managers, portfolio choice, relative performance, risk shifting, strategic interactions, tournaments
JEL(s): C61, C73, D81, G11, G20
Abstract: Money managers behave strategically when competing for fund flows within relatively small groups. We study strategic interaction between two risk-averse managers in continuous time, characterizing analytically their unique equilibrium dynamic investments. Driven by chasing and contrarian mechanisms when one is well ahead, they gamble in the opposite direction when their performances are close. We also discuss multiple and mixed-strategy equilibria. Equilibrium policy of each crucially depends on the opponent’s risk attitude. Hence, client investors, concerned about how a strategic manager may trade on their behalf, should also learn competitors’ characteristics--as against non-strategic settings, where knowing a manager’s own characteristics suffices to determine behavior.
* CEPR Research Fellows and Affiliates, Corporate Members and Subscribers can download papers without charge. Individual Papers may be purchased at www.cepr.org