It is well known that asset allocation policy is the major determinant of fundperformance. However, there is substantial disagreement about the exactmagnitude of the contribution of asset allocation. Following the approach inIbbotson and Kaplan (2000), we use German and Swiss balanced mutualfund...

This paper analyzes the relation between correlation risk and the cross-section of hedge fund returns.Legal framework and investment mandate imply that hedge funds can be severely exposed tocorrelation risk: Hedge funds ability to enter long-short positions can be useful to reduce marketbeta,...

Refinancing a mortgage is often one of the biggest and most important financial decisions that people make. Borrowers need to choose the interest rate differential at which to refinance and, when that differential is reached, they need to take the steps to refinance before rates change again....

What configuration of asset returns will make the banking system most susceptible to a self-fulfilling run? I study this question in a version of the model of Diamond and Dybvig (1983) with limited commitment and a non-trivial portfolio choice. I show that the relationship between the returns on...

Established early stage investors decide to invest in new ventures after evaluating the propensity of success and the risk of failure. Consequently, it is of considerable importance that the new business owners have substantial 'skin in the game' and are thus highly committed to business...

Negative interest rate policy (NIRP) is associated with a particular friction. The remuneration of banks' retail deposits tends to be floored at zero, which limits the typical transmission of policy rate cuts to bank funding costs. We investigate whether this friction affects banks' reactions...

To address banks' risk taking during the recent financial crisis, we develop a model of credit-portfolio optimization and study the impact of risk-based capital regulation (Basel Accords) on banks' asset allocations. The model shows that, when a bank's capital is constrained by regulation,...

We use unique data on banks' private risk assessments of corporate borrowers to quantify how competition among banks affect the risk sensitivity of interest rates in the Norwegian credit market. We show that an increase in competition makes corporate lending rates less sensitive to banks' own...

The extraordinary steps taken by governments during the 2007-2009 financial crisis to prevent the failure of large financial institutions and support credit availability have invited heated debate. This paper comprehensively reviews empirical assessments of the benefits of those programs-such as...

In June 2014 the ECB became the first major central bank to lower one of its key policy rates to negative territory. The theoretical and empirical literature is silent on whether banks' reaction would be different when the policy rate is lowered to negative levels compared to a standard reaction...