Key Takeaways
- • A Rothstein Kass study released in the US in January 2014 found the average women-owned or -managed hedge fund returned 6% over the 6½ years ending June 30, 2013.
- • Over the same period, the S&P 500 rose 4.2% and the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index fell about 1%, per the study.
- • The result repeats a finding from Rothstein Kass's study the prior year, indicating a persistent rather than one-off performance gap.
- • A 2011 Barclays Capital report found a weighted index of women- and minority-owned hedge funds returned a cumulative 82.4% over the five years ending March 2011, versus 51% for non-diversity funds.
Summary
A study released in the United States in the week of January 18, 2014 found that hedge funds owned or managed by women outperformed both the Standard & Poor's 500 index and a broad index of hedge funds in recent years. The research was conducted by tax and audit firm Rothstein Kass, which serves the financial industry.
According to the study, the average women-owned or -managed hedge fund returned 6% over the 6½ years that ended on June 30, 2013. Over the same period, the S&P 500 rose 4.2%, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index fell about 1%.
The findings are not new for Rothstein Kass. The firm reported similar results in a study the previous year, suggesting the performance pattern has held across multiple measurement periods.
Earlier evidence points in the same direction. A 2011 Barclays Capital report found that over the five years ending March 2011, a weighted index of women- and minority-owned hedge funds returned a cumulative 82.4%, compared with a cumulative return of 51% for funds classified as non-diversity.
The sources reviewed do not describe the methodology in detail, including fund sample size or fee treatment, so the reported outperformance should be read as a descriptive finding rather than a causal conclusion.
According to the study, the average women-owned or -managed hedge fund returned 6% over the 6½ years that ended on June 30, 2013. Over the same period, the S&P 500 rose 4.2%, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index fell about 1%.
The findings are not new for Rothstein Kass. The firm reported similar results in a study the previous year, suggesting the performance pattern has held across multiple measurement periods.
Earlier evidence points in the same direction. A 2011 Barclays Capital report found that over the five years ending March 2011, a weighted index of women- and minority-owned hedge funds returned a cumulative 82.4%, compared with a cumulative return of 51% for funds classified as non-diversity.
The sources reviewed do not describe the methodology in detail, including fund sample size or fee treatment, so the reported outperformance should be read as a descriptive finding rather than a causal conclusion.
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