Marketing and distribution expenses are responsible for about a third of the cost of active management in the mutual fund industry. We develop and estimate a structural model of mutual fund marketing with learning about unobserved skill and costly investor search. Our estimates suggest that...

Marketing and distribution expenses are responsible for about a third of the cost of active management in the mutual fund industry. We develop and estimate a structural model of mutual fund marketing with learning about unobserved skill and costly investor search. Our estimates suggest that...

Marketing and distribution expenses are responsible for about a third of the cost of active management in the mutual fund industry. We develop and estimate a structural model of mutual fund marketing with learning about unobserved skill and costly investor search. Our estimates suggest that...

60% of the ESG mutual funds introduced after 2013 are managed by teams that also manage non-ESG funds. The co-managed non-ESG funds increase their holdings of high ESG stocks and exhibit superior performance among these stocks, reflecting an ability to cherry-pick the best ideas. Despite being...

Does the observed relationship between mutual fund flows and recent performance represent irrational “return chasing” or rational learning about unobserved fund manager skill in the presence of decreasing returns to scale? We estimate a structural model of investor beliefs implicit in the...

We study a dynamic equilibrium model of mutual fund investing under career concerns that features investment opportunities at different horizons. Equilibrium returns are endogenously determined by competition. Short-term investment strategies can benefit fund managers by accelerating skill...