Alumni Networks and Investment Strategy: Evidence from Chinese Mutual Funds

While fund managers are connected by interpersonal linkages, the investment strategy of a mutual fund would follow a similar pattern due to interpersonal communications and information exchange. This paper focuses on the connection of fund managers via a shared educational network (university alumni connection) in China. Based on a manually collected dataset with the detailed transaction and manager information, our results were threefold: (1) Mutual fund managers with an alumni connection tend to have similar portfolio allocation; the network effect is heterogeneous for different manager characteristics, fund characteristics, and alumni types. (2) A dynamic learning strategy for fund managers exists where they tend to mimic the past portfolio choices of others within the alumni network. (3) The performance of connected funds is worsened by the degree of the connection.