Abstract

This paper investigates the determinants of cryptocurrency fund performance, where we compile a unique dataset of cryptocurrency fund performance and characteristics of the funds and managers. We document substantial differences in cryptocurrency fund manager ability in terms of monthly excess returns as well as risk-adjusted returns. In particular, we find that managers with a PhD and MBA tend to generate significantly higher excess returns and higher risk-adjusted returns while PhD managers are also riskier. Further, our results show that managers with previous hedge fund experience generate significantly higher appraisal ratios indicating their investment-picking ability obtained from their previous experience. However we find that cryptocurrency experience offers no explanatory power indicating that trading cryptocurrencies successfully does not require any specific knowledge in this area. Overall, our findings are consistent with the conventional wisdom that manager qualifications and experience play a significant role in fund performance.