Hiding in Plain Sight: The Global Implications of Manager Disclosure

Richard B. Evans, Miguel Ferreira, and Michael Young

♦ We examine global variation in the disclosure of mutual fund manager identities using a comprehensive sample. 11% of mutual funds do not disclose their management teams. Anonymously managed funds underperform those with named managers and are less likely to deviate from their benchmarks. Exploiting changes in SEC disclosure regulations, performance comparisons of anonymous twin funds, and allocation of anonymous managers within fund families, we find that underperformance reflects both lower effort by skilled managers who remain anonymous and the concealment of less skilled managers. Our findings highlight disclosure as a critical mechanism for aligning incentives and improving fund performance.

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