Do corporate site visits impact hedge fund performance?

Nearly one in six hedge funds conducted corporate site visits from 2012 to 2017. Using comprehensive hedge fund site visit data, this paper is one of the first to empirically examine how corporate site visits affect fund performance. We find that hedge funds with more corporate site visits have better performance. The relation is stronger when a hedge fund manager visits a neglected firm or asks more questions during the visit, suggesting that hedge funds may be able to gain information advantage through site visits. Site visits benefit hedge funds more when a hedge fund manager conducts a site visit with a mutual fund manager. Further, the margin trading of the visited company's stock increases following a hedge fund site visit.