We document economically large momentum profits when sorting ETFs on returns over the past two to four years. A value-weighted, long-short strategy based on ETF momentum delivers Carhart (1997) four-factor alphas of up to 1.20% per month. Neither cross-sectional stock momentum nor co-variation...

We propose a theory in which each stock's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) score plays two roles: 1) providing information about firm fundamentals and 2) affecting investor preferences. The solution to the investor's portfolio problem is characterized by an ESG-efficient frontier,...

Using a sample of U.S. international equity mutual funds, we show that funds that hire sub-advisors abroad do not outperform. For example, funds that hire outsourced international sub-advisors underperform on a risk-adjusted basis by up to 126 bps annually, relative to funds that do not...

This paper analyzes how trading after shareholder meetings changes the composition of the shareholder base. Analyzing daily trades, we find that mutual funds reduce their holdings if their votes are opposed to the voting outcome. Trading volume is high even when stock prices do not change, peaks...

This paper studies hedge fund performance and confirms reports of an aggregate decline over the past decade. We test whether a comprehensive set of prediction models can select subsets of individual funds that buck the trend and subsequently outperform. Seven of the predictors reliably pick...

Processing qualitative information about a firm's product market competition matters for professional investors. Consistent with a superior understanding of a firm's market power, fund managers who overweight companies with the fewest competitors (monopolies) outperform their peers. An exogenous...

This paper explores the idea that investors ex ante price the risk that large fire sales by liquidity-shocked blockholders will trigger negative price impacts, referred to as "fragility risk," and argues that fragility risk should be lower for institutional blockholders who can credibly signal...

These lecture notes cover old and new investment methods, regulatory and legal developments and the role of technology as a game changer in asset management. The discussion gives the same weight to the theoretical and practical aspects of asset management. The focus is on portfolio...

We propose that investor beliefs frequently “cross” in the sense that an investor may like company A, but dislike company B, while another investor may like company B, but dislike company A. Belief-crossing makes it almost impossible to construct a portfolio that is comprised solely of every...

This paper examines the relation between idiosyncratic risk and mutual fund performance using asset pricing models. We use a unique data set containing monthly returns of 949 UK equity mutual funds over a 28-year period to measure fund performance. We find that idiosyncratic risk cannot be...