Organizational typologies and performance of mutual fund managers

The constant development of asset management on behalf of a third party, whether it be in terms of direct management or collective investment funds (UCITS)1, is a general phenomenon on global financial markets. In a context where financial markets have become increasingly complex and particularly risky for inexperienced investors, many are the investors who have recourse to professional asset managers to make investments on financial markets for them. Portfolios are managed by an IMC in which a manager or management team decides on investment policies. However, despite the importance now given to IMCs ? their role having such a significant impact on the operation and financing of contemporary economies ? they have been little explored by the social sciences. Admittedly, IMCs operate in a field dominated by the efficient-market theory (Fama, 1970), which still remains one of the foundations of modern financial theory in spite of the significant criticisms levelled at it (Albouy, 2005).