Do Looser Hedge Fund Regulations Lead To Better Performance?: A Comparative Analysis Of Off- And Onshore Hedge Funds Using The Modified Sharpe-Ratio

The first part of this book contains a description of hedge fund strategies and a detailed discussion about hedge fund and funds of hedge funds regulation in the U.S., selected European countries, and ?classic? offshore domiciles. It is observed that onshore countries' jurisdictions are much stricter than the ones offshore funds are subject to. The second part includes an off- versus onshore hedge fund analysis using a large database provided by the Center for International Securities and Derivatives Markets based at the Isenberg School of Management in Amherst, Massachusetts. The main focus of this analysis is a performance comparison of off- and onshore hedge fund indices and the S&P 500 Index between 1996 and 2005, applying the traditional Sharpe-Ratio, the Sortino-Ratio, and the Modified Sharpe-Ratio. Since hedge fund returns are not normally distributed, the Modified Sharpe-Ratio is concluded to be the most appropriate ratio to rank hedge fund investments. According to the Modified Sharpe-Ratio, investing in the Equal Weighted Onshore Hedge Fund Index has, on average, been more attractive than investing in the Equal Weighted Offshore Hedge Fund Index.