We examine the relative weights hedge fund investors attach to past information in the fund selection process. The weighting scheme appears inconsistent with the one of econometric forecast models that predict fund returns, alphas or Sharpe ratios. In particular, investor flows are highly...

Several Bayesian model combination schemes, including some novel approaches that simultaneously allow for parameter uncertainty, model uncertainty and robust time varying model weights, are compared in terms of forecast accuracy and economic gains using financial and macroeconomic time series....

The average alpha of mutual funds is an indication of whether it pays off to invest in actively managed funds. In this study we show that a substantial part of the variation in the average alpha can be explained by exogenous factors. The most important factors are the average expense ratio, the...