Resumen: This study examines the performance of managers over time, as well as its persistence, taking into account both manager characteristics and market conditions. Applying parametric and non-parametric methodologies, we examine a sample of UK equity pension fund managers. Our results help to understand the importance of manager assignments in the industry and reveal the importance and benefits of management specialization. We find certain manager performance persistence, revealing that some managers are better than others and possess superior investment skills. Additionally, we find that managers achieve better results when they run a single fund or one investment-objective funds, which allows managers to focus on specific tasks. Nonetheless, manager performance varies with market conditions and highlights managers’ different skills. Specialist managers perform better in bullish markets, and generalists perform better in bearish periods. Idioma: Inglés DOI: 10.1016/j.najef.2017.09.006 Año: 2017 Publicado en: NORTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE 42 (2017), 654-667 ISSN: 1062-9408 Factor impacto JCR: 1.098 (2017) Categ. JCR: ECONOMICS rank: 182 / 353 = 0.516 (2017) - Q3 - T2 Categ. JCR: BUSINESS, FINANCE rank: 58 / 98 = 0.592 (2017) - Q3 - T2 Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 0.634 - Finance (Q2) - Economics and Econometrics (Q2)