Does the mutual fund industry lose its best managers to hedge funds? We find
that a mutual fund manager with superior past performance is more likely to
start managing an in-house hedge fund while continuing to manage mutual funds.
However, a mutual fund manager with poor past performance is more likely to
leave the mutual fund industry to manage a hedge fund. Thus, mutual funds appear
to use in-house hedge funds to retain the best-performing managers in the face
of competition from hedge funds. In addition, the managers of mutual funds with
greater expenses are more likely to enter the hedge fund industry. The magnitude
of such expenses is negatively related to subsequent performance in the hedge
fund industry. Hence, hedge funds do not acquire superior performance for their
investors by hiring these expensive managers.