Are Manager Characteristics Affecting the Performance of Hedge Funds?

The purpose of this thesis is to examine if and how the hedge fund manager’s background characteristics and strategy applied affect the fund’s performance, as measured by average monthly return, risk and risk-adjusted monthly return. This is done by collecting data on 41 different hedge fund managers in Sweden and then performing robust OLS regressions. Our main results are that applying a long-short equity strategy generates higher return, higher risk, and higher risk-adjusted return compared to the other strategies. Hedge fund managers with previous studies in business and economics generate lower return, take on less risk and generate lower risk-adjusted return. We find modest evidence of lower risk taking among former students of Lund University. Investing private funds in the hedge fund are found to have a negative impact on risk-adjusted return.