Is it a coincidence that hedge fund returns are exploding right after the biggest culling in the industry's history?

Hedge funds have been dropping their net exposure since last summer. Now a new study finds that changes in hedge fund market betas may actually portend the future.

How can hedge fund anomalies like the one we described yesterday possibly survive? Have we stumbled on new species of investor?

Like hedge funds, mutual funds are finding true alpha harder to come by. But you might be surprised to learn who is to blame.

If you're a traditional long-only asset manager, one expert has some advice for you.

Sometimes an alpha symbol is just an alpha symbol.

This graphic from a recent Andrew Lo presentation sums it all up.

A recent study says that widely-used performance measures may not be as good as we all might have thought.

Kenneth French, one half of the "Fama & French" duo calls active management "futile" and wonders why institutions haven't thrown in the towel.

We've all heard the old adage "Sell in May and go away". One academic determines if the weather is the source of this apparent market anomaly.

An analysis of the performance of small, medium and large hedge funds reveals a small-fund advantage that disciples of Fama and French will appreciate.

Simply adding a "short-extension" to a fund doesn't necessarily pave the way for alpha generation says a Morgan Stanley report available here at AAA.

Academics say their "sentiment indexes do, to a large extent, capture a prevailing greed versus fear."

Lock-ups, redemption gates, notice periods...liquidity has become a major issue in the hedge fund industry - and a new study now tries to put a price on it.

Some of the world's staunchest allies of efficient market theory are actually more open to active management than you might expect.

There's a debate brewing in the hedge fund community right now over an academic paper on hedge fund alpha. Here's what you need to know.

Identifying persistent returns can be done with the naked eye. But identifying persistent alpha? That's a different ball game according one researcher.

A new study backs up the notion that hedge fund alpha is decreasing. But it also explores, for the first time, the possible mechanics behind this phenomenon.

If the history of asset management could be characterized as a struggle between active and passive management, are we nearing the end?

In today's "Alternative Viewpoints...powered by CAIA" Konstantin Danilov proposes a new type of security that might address the illiquidity risks inherent in individual positions.

In a January report to clients (available here), Morgan Stanley explores the true implications of the adage "all correlations go to one during times of stress".

A New York-based start-up is applying sophisticated financial acumen to the opaque world of championship sporting events. Scalpers are certainly into it. Will hedge funds be far behind.

By Tristram Lett, INTEGRA CAPITAL - The title of this article suggests that alpha can be derived from market timing. In the strict statistical sense, it is not considered a source of alpha, but any investment practitioner knows that, relative to a buy and hold position, being in and out of a particular market in a [...]

Last week's O'Reilly Money:Tech conference in New York showed what you get when you mix online "social networking" with stock picking. But is the result truly alpha?

Is your manager a (passive) grasshopper or an (active) ant? The debate continues about how to best measure manager "activeness".

Hot on the heels of its new 130/30 indices, S&P released a new "alpha producing" index last Friday. But does it really produce alpha?

A study of various global equity indices shows that the smaller more "exclusive" ones (like the Dow) depart significantly from the passive "buy and hold ethos" of indexation.

A new study suggests that NFL gamblers can develop an unwarranted love affair with last season's "darlings". So are Las Vegas bookmakers serving up a "free lunch"?

Author Richard Bookstaber says you can't fight complexity with even more complexity. What is needed, he says, is a "flight to simplicity". Do they have business class on that plane?

There is a lot of talk about how hedge fund returns can be "replicated" using liquid derivatives, swaps, futures, and "exotic beta". But what about good old-fashioned ETFs?

When arguments can be made that 130/30 investing and portable alpha are cousins, why then has 130/30 become the cat's meow and portable alpha growth is "muted"? Two academics have a theory.

How exactly to top performing university endowments make all their money? You may be surprised by what this academic has to say on the issue.