Ep72 Alternatives vs. Mutual Funds: Where Should You Put Your Money

In the rapid-moving world of delegated money management, it is important to recognize the differences in how mutual funds and alternative assets operate. When it comes to alternatives, how do these funds wind up with strong incentive contracts for the money managers as opposed to flat fee contracts more commonly seen in mutual funds? Why do managers of alternatives cap their fund sizes when it could potentially lead to lower fees? On this episode, hosts and finance professors Jonathan Berk and Jules van Binsbergen examine the key differences between mutual funds and alternatives, by unpacking research in a new paper co-authored by Berk. The conversation covers performance fees, persistent alpha, limits on capital, and the key liquidity distinction between mutual funds and alternatives. Read “A Unified Theory of Delegated Capital Management” by Jonathan Berk and Peter DeMarzo here: Find All Else Equal on the web: All Else Equal: Making Better Decisions Podcast is a production of the UPenn Wharton Lauder Institute through University FM. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Ep72 Alternatives vs. Mutual Funds: Where Should You Put Your Money is an episode from All Else Equal: Making Better Decisions by University.fm.

This episode is 00:31:48 long.

This episode was published on Feb 4, 2026.

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