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The more significant fund with the smaller edge

An allocator compares two funds. Fund X reports p=0.0001p = 0.0001 for its alpha; fund Y reports p=0.02p = 0.02. The allocator says, "X's alpha is clearly far larger, its p-value is tiny."

Explain the flaw in this reasoning, and construct a concrete case where fund Y actually has the larger alpha despite the larger p-value.

Your answer

This one is open-ended. Work it through, then check your reasoning against the full solution.

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