Using the most comprehensive database on Australian hedge funds, we test the performance persistence for the period July 2000 to June 2005. We employ both parametric and nonparametric approaches to identify persistence. We report evidence of short-term persistence and no evidence of long-term...

We argue that arbitrageurs will strategically limit their initial investment in an arbitrage opportunity in anticipation of further mispricing caused by the deepening of noise traders' misperceptions. Such ‘noise momentum' is an important determinant of the overall arbitrage process. We design...

This paper examines the equity market reaction to consumer sentiment in the context of the sentiment index issued by the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economics and Social Research. Unlike the Michigan index in the US, which is announced in phases, this index is announced once per month, which...

In this paper, we study mutual fund performance in terms of timing ability with daily data from 1998 to 2009. A novel timing model is proposed by incorporating the regime-switching framework into the Treynor and Mazuy (1966) model. The volatility follows a generalized autoregressive conditional...

This chapter outlines the conditions under which accounting-based smoothing can be beneficial for policyholders who hold with-profit or participating payout life annuities (PLAs). We use a realistically-calibrated model of PLAs to explore how alternative accounting techniques influence...