This study extends previous inquiries concerning positive (as opposed to normative) aspects of common-stock investor behavior and provides preliminary empirical evidence on the association between risk/return preferences and expectations for specified investor attributes.Part I of the study...

The nature of mutual funds / Conrad S. Ciccotello -- Mutual fund regulation and issues / Conrad S. Ciccotello -- The economics of mutual funds / David M. Smith -- Mutual fund fees and expenses / David M. Smith -- How financial markets work / Larry E. Swedroe -- Active versus passive investing /...

Given the sensitivity of stock valuation models to the discount rate k*, it follows that their operational usefulness is significantly dependent upon the accuracy of the estimate of k*. The purpose of this study is to illustrate the use of the geometric mean to estimate k*. The usual approach to...

This article explores the relationships of mutual fund advertising and investor skill in making fund choices. Fund advertising dominates the choices of unsophisticated investors. Advertising appeals to investor emotions by resonating with current beliefs, not by providing information that...

In summary, the ex ante evidence suggests strong preference relationships for the three sets of risk-return variables analyzed. Further, there appear to be differences among the nature and shape of the relationships as evidenced by the statistical tests: one, the association between risk and...

This study provides in-depth coverage of important findings surrounding the question of why investors continue to buy underperforming actively managed mutual funds. This issue is complicated by the finding active managers have skill that allows them to add fund value, but which is not shared...