Copulas offer financial risk managers a powerful tool to model the dependence between the different elements of a portfolio and are preferable to the traditional, correlation-based approach. In this paper we show the importance of selecting an accurate copula for risk management. We extend...

Copulas offer financial risk managers a powerful tool to model the dependence between the different elements of a portfolio and are preferable to the traditional, correlation-based approach. In this paper, we show the importance of selecting an accurate copula for risk management. We extend...

Several frequentist and Bayesian model averaging schemes, including a new one that simultaneously allows for parameter uncertainty, model uncertainty and time varying model weights, are compared in terms of forecast accuracy over a set of simulation experiments. Artificial data are generated,...

A wide range of empirical biases hampers hedge fund databases. In this paper we focus upon survival-related biases and disentangle look-ahead biases due to self-selection of funds and due to fund termination. Self-selection arises because funds voluntarily report their information to data...

In this paper, we analyze the economic value of predicting index returns as well as volatility. On the basis of fairly simple linear models, estimated recursively, we produce genuine out-of-sample forecasts for the return on the Samp;P 500 index and its volatility. Using monthly data from 1954...

Believers in the law of small numbers tend to overinfer the outcome of a random process after a small series of observations. They believe that small samples replicate the probability distribution properties of the population. We provide empirical evidence indicating that investors are...

We explore the flow-performance interrelation of hedge funds by separating the investment and divestment decisions of investors using a regime switching model. We report three previously undocumented features in hedge fund data. First, we find a weak inflow-performance relation at quarterly...

We decompose the conditional expected mutual fund return in five parts. Two parts, selectivityand expert market timing, can be attributed to manager skill, and three to variation in marketexposure that can be achieved by private investors as well. The dynamic model that we use toestimate the...

In this paper we analyze the persistence in the performance of hedge funds taking into account look-ahead bias (multi-period sampling bias). To do so, we model liquidation of hedge funds and analyze how it depends upon historical performance. Next, we use a weighting procedure that eliminates...

This paper investigates three capital structure decisions leverage, debt maturity and the source of debt in a simultaneous setting. Moreover, we investigate whether these choices are influenced by the involvement of banks in a firm. Our results based on a panel of Dutch firms show that bank...