A proposal for measuring efficiency losses of asset management companies: Frontier-based approach

Abstract

The performance of funds by asset management companies needs to be based on an objective benchmark. Studies related to the topic focus on measuring performance using a discrete form that cannot capture precise total efficiency losses. In this study, we propose a continuous approach to compare the performance of funds by taking advantage of the mean-variance efficient frontier with consideration of multiple risk levels. In an empirical analysis, our proposed method is applied to asset management companies with respect to open-end funds. For comparison, we use the output of an averaged Sharpe index. Because averaging the Sharpe index is inevitable for multiple risk levels, this method of calculation causes a loss of efficiency information. Hence, the proposed method has a continuous form of measuring performance, and the results of the two methods demonstrate significantly different patterns.