In this paper, we consider for the first time the impact of fund regulation on the international distribution of investment funds. We study the 2001 UCITS Directive of the European Union, which was put in place to mitigate fraud and promote investor confidence throughout Europe. We examine the...

The AIFMD provides a harmonized European framework for regulating alternative investment funds. Prior to discussing its details, this chapter introduces to the AIFMD, discussing the developments that led to its adoption (Part 1), the AIFMD's principal objectives (Part 2) and its key tools for...

The growth of the hedge fund industry and the proliferation of retail alternative funds in combination with the fundamental reshaping of the regulatory landscape for the hedge fund industry suggest that mutual funds are becoming more like hedge funds as a matter of investment strategy while...

This study aims to analyse the provisions of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council (2011/61/EU) which pertain to its scope. It is divided into two Sections:(a) Section A offers an overview of the legal framework governing alternative...

In the interest of consumer financial protection, most households do not have access to the hedge fund market. We show that this creates an inequality of investment opportunities. Wealthy households can access this market, and while these retail investors behave very differently from...

Major index fund operators have been criticized as ineffective stewards of the firms in which they are now the largest shareholders. While scholars debate whether this passivity is a serious problem, index funds' generally docile approach to ownership is broadly acknowledged. However, this...

We use a new data set to study the determinants of the performance of open-end actively managed equity mutual funds in 27 countries. We find that mutual funds underperform the market overall. The results show important differences in the determinants of fund performance in the U.S. and elsewhere...

We examine the relation between indexing and active management in the mutual fund industry worldwide. Explicit indexing and closet indexing by active funds are associated with countries' regulatory and financial market environments. We find that actively managed funds are more active and charge...

The investment fund sector, the largest component of the non-bank financial system, is growing rapidly and the economy is becoming more reliant on investment fund financial intermediation. This paper builds a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with banks and investment funds. Banks...