Ratios that indicate the statistical significance of a fund’s alpha typically appraise its performance. A growing literature suggests that even in the absence of any ability to predict returns, holding options positions on the benchmark assets or trading frequently can significantly enhance...

We study how actively managed equity mutual funds select the liquidity level of their equity portfolio and the effects of this selection on performance. We provide evidence of five key determinants of portfolio liquidity: portfolio size, portfolio concentration, the manager’s trading...

We study how competition in the mutual fund industry affects stock market liquidity. We argue that mutual fund families operate as multi-product firms, jointly choosing fees, performance and number of funds and sharing common research facilities. The family-based organization generates economies...

Futures markets are a potentially valuable source of information about market expectations. Exploiting this information has proved difficult in practice, because the presence of a timevarying risk premium often renders the futures price a poor measure of the market expectation of the price of...

This paper provides evidence for a causal effect of equity prices on corporate investment and employment. We use fire sales by distressed equity funds during the 2007-2009 financial crisis to identify substantial exogenous underpricing. Firms whose stocks are most underpriced have considerably...