Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Persistence of alpha in South African general equity unit trusts

The ability of active managers to produce consistent benchmark-beating returns is a topic that has been widely debated with increasing interest over the past decade. The majority of previous studies in which persistence of performance is tested consider a fund's ability to maintain its relative rank...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hoch, Rowan Andrew
Other Authors: West, Darron
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Finance and Tax 2018
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The ability of active managers to produce consistent benchmark-beating returns is a topic that has been widely debated with increasing interest over the past decade. The majority of previous studies in which persistence of performance is tested consider a fund's ability to maintain its relative ranking over various time periods amongst its peer group. This study adds to the literature by considering the persistence of alpha, where alpha is defined as the out- or under-performance of a market-related benchmark. Persistence of alpha for South African general equity unit trusts is tested over six-month, one-, two- and three-year formation and holding periods using a similar methodology to that of Collinet & Firer (2003). Alpha is found to persist most prominently in tests of one-year periods, with other period lengths yielding less significant results. Additionally, using the methodology of Malkiel (1995), certain funds which have demonstrated statistically significant persistent alpha over various periods are identified.