Performance Measurement without Benchmarks: An Examination of Mutual Fund Returns

This article introduces a new measure of portfolio performance and applies it to study the performance of a large sample of mutual funds. In contrast to previous studies of mutual fund performance, the measure used in this study employs portfolio holdings and does not require the use of a benchmark portfolio. It finds that the portfolio choices of mutual fund managers, particularly those that managed aggressive growth funds, earned significantly positive risk-adjusted returns in the 1976-85 period. Copyright 1993 by University of Chicago Press.