Hedge Fund Index Biases

Alternative Investments: Hedge Funds, Private Equity & Real Assets · 3:49

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Lyrics

[Verse 1]
When hedge funds disappear from sight
The weak ones fade into the night
But indices don't tell this tale
They only show the ones that didn't fail
This makes performance look too bright
Survivorship bias ain't right

[Chorus]
Three biases distort the view
S-B-S, remember these two plus one more
Survivorship makes returns look high
Backfill fills the past with lies
Selection picks the best to show
These biases make indices glow

[Verse 2]
A fund joins late but fills back years
With stellar returns that bring the cheers
They add their past winning streak
To make the index numbers peak
This backward filling skews the score
Backfill bias gives us more

[Chorus]
Three biases distort the view
S-B-S, remember these two plus one more
Survivorship makes returns look high
Backfill fills the past with lies
Selection picks the best to show
These biases make indices glow

[Verse 3]
Index makers choose with care
They pick the funds that look most fair
The best performers make the cut
While struggling funds stay in the rut
This cherry picking tilts the game
Selection bias is to blame

[Bridge]
Database providers need to know
Which funds to add and which let go
But human choices always lean
Toward making numbers look more clean
The real performance gets distorted
True risk-return gets under-reported

[Chorus]
Three biases distort the view
S-B-S, remember these two plus one more
Survivorship makes returns look high
Backfill fills the past with lies
Selection picks the best to show
These biases make indices glow

[Outro]
When analyzing hedge fund data
Remember what can contaminate-a
The indices you think are true
Might have a rosier point of view
S-B-S will guide your way
To better analysis today

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