Ethnic Bias and Fund Manager Performance
Prof. Hong ZOU
Professor
University of Hong Kong (HKU Business School)
Date: 17 December 2024 (Tuesday)
Time: 14:30-16:00
Venue: E22-G015
Host: Prof. Rachel Xiaorong MA, Associate Professor in Finance
Abstract
We document that in 2020, US mutual funds with Asian female managers underperform relative to other female managers. The impact intensified in states with higher crime rates or sentiment, among more actively managed portfolios, and when these managers play leadership roles. We address alternative hypotheses, including investor redemption, workplace animus, childcare challenges, and concerns for families overseas during the pandemic. Performance deterioration manifests itself mainly in stock picking. Our study highlights the negative productivity impact of ethnic bias outside the workplace and the labor market.
Speaker
Prof. Hong ZOU is a professor of finance at University of Hong Kong. He graduated in Statistics from Fudan University, completed a Master degree in insurance & accounting with distinction (sponsored by UK insurer Aviva) and received a PhD in Finance from University of Wales (UK). He had six-year industry experience (four years in a local government and two years in an investment bank) and qualified the CPA and investment analyst exam. He previously taught at Cardiff University (UK) and City University of Hong Kong, and received the Faculty of Business and Economics (FBE) 2017/2018 IMBA teaching award, the 2019/2020 HKU-PKU EMBA Teaching Award, and the 2020/2021 & 2021/2022 & 2022/2023 FBE Faculty UG Teaching Reward in the University of Hong Kong. He was ranked as one of the HKU Scholars in the world’s Top 1% based on Thomson Clarivate Analytics’ Essential Science Indicators in the 10-year period (2008-2018). He is consistently ranked in the top 10% of Authors on SSRN by all-time downloads.
All are welcome!
