Trillions of dollars are invested through index funds, exchange-traded funds, and other index derivatives. The benefits of index-linked investing are well-known, but the possible broader economic consequences are unstudied. I review research which suggests that index-linked investing is...

Over the years, Institute research has shown active managers, even the best-performing ones, suffered periods of weak returns relative to benchmarks and their peers. But underperformance, up to three years, had relatively little impact on the best-performing funds' ability to deliver success...

Which trading strategies differentiate skilled mutual fund managers from their unsuccessful peers? This study provides evidence for a positive association between holdings' implied cost of capital (ICC) and future fund performance. Consistent with large transaction costs of ICC-based investments...

We survey more than 200 private equity (PE) managers from firms with $1.9 trillion of assets under management (AUM) about their portfolio performance, decision-making and activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that PE managers have significant incentives to maximize value, their actions...

Despite the conventional wisdom that the equity and bond markets are segmented, the organizational structure of mutual fund families facilitates information integration between shareholders and creditors, and thus offsets frictions that cause cross-asset segmentation. We find that actively...

This study investigates the performance of the fixed income mutual funds industry, focusing on Canadian fixed income funds before, during, and after the 2008 global financial crisis. After recessionary shocks, investors look for ways to diversify their systematic risks. We investigate Canadian...

Mutual funds’ switches to monthly holding disclosures reduce the efficiency of corporate investments. Consistent with a crowding-out mechanism, the evidence suggests that monthly portfolio disclosures discourage information production activities by other market participants and, consequently,...

This study provides evidence for a positive association between mutual fund holdings’implied cost of capital (ICC) and future performance. Consistent with large transactioncosts of ICC-based investments impeding their exploitation and employing a ICC-basedstrategy reflecting skill,...

This paper documents that underpriced firms substitute R&D spending with share buybacks to the detriment of innovation. To identify underpriced firms, I introduce a novel measure of non-fundamental price pressure induced by indirect exposure to industry-level shocks. This measure addresses...

The Pepperdine Private Capital Markets Project survey for business owners, administered during the spring of 2010, reveals an increasingly important role of friends and family (Friends/Family) to provide capital for privately-held businesses. Examining business owners’ perceptions of their...