Value versus Growth - An Empirical Analysis of Equity Fund Managers' Capabilities to Generate Alpha

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,00, EBS European Business School gGmbH, language: English, abstract: Portfolio managers face the challenge to achieve excess returns comparative to a benchmark for their private or institutional clients. Researchers such as Fama and French (1992, 1996) or Lakonishok, Shleifer, and Vishny (1994) caused a stir with their findings that various investment styles tend to accomplish superior returns over a long-term horizon. Their findings proposed that value stocks tend to outperform growth stocks. This bachelor thesis raises the question whether value or growth fund managers are able to achieve a persistent outperformance relative to their internal and external benchmark. The findings have a crucial influence on investors considering an investment into the equity market by an active or passive portfolio management approach.