Education and Investment Skill: Evidence from Mutual Fund Managers
Does the quality of a fund manager’s education predict investment skill? Using syllabi from 669 managers’ colleges, I measure Relevance, fit with investment-management work, and Timeliness, how current coursework is. A one-standard-deviation increase in either predicts 0.5 percentage points higher annual net returns. Prestige controls and wrong-field placebos leave the relation unchanged. Because students tend to attend nearby colleges, I use education quality at the university nearest each manager’s high school as an instrument. Both estimates are significant. The two measures capture distinct skills: Relevance predicts returns with high analyst coverage, and Timeliness when managers must develop their own analysis.
Presented at the FMA Doctoral Student Consortium and its Job Market Paper Presentation Session (October 2026). Scheduled: AFA Annual Meeting Poster Session (January 2027)