Hedge fund replication strategies: implications for investors and regulators.

Abstract

Over the past decade, academic research has identified a number of replication strategies capable of capturing between 40% to 80% of the average return of many popular hedge fund strategies. Investors are beginning to take notice of these replication strategies, especially because of their rule based, transparent features and the fact that they can be executed at low cost. Armed with this alternative way of accessing passive hedge fund returns, investors can effectively structure incentive fee contracts to reward skill-based returns (i.e., alternative alpha) differently from passive index-liked returns (i.e., alternative beta). This can raise the barrier to entry for new funds to the industry in that hedge fund managers must demonstrate skill in order to participate in profi t sharing. This should reduce the risk of herding by hedge fund managers who may otherwise be enticed by incentive fee contracts that rewards them for taking popular factor bets.