We make use of a unique dataset of SEC Form N-SAR filings to examine the gross flows of U.S. bond funds. We find that gross inflows and outflows average around 4% of TNA per month, but net flows average only 0.26%. When modeling these flows, we see that, like equity funds, bond fund investors...

We study the universe of absolute return mutual funds and find no evidence they deliver positive alpha. Additionally, these funds can have significant factor exposures. Compared to ordinary equity funds, absolute return funds have much higher fees and turnover. They perform worse than their...

The top 5 percent of actively managed U.S. equity mutual funds in 2012 had greater aggregate TNA than the remaining 95 percent of funds combined. This skewness in size has implications for mutual fund research: What is true of the average fund is not necessarily true of the average dollar. We...

The addition of the Fama and French (2015) profitability (RMW) and investment (CMA) factors to the standard four-factor model reveals persistent positive alpha after fees for mutual funds. Over the period 2000-2014, about 65 percent of fund managers have at least some skill, and about 15 percent...

We find that mutual fund investors are more likely to both purchase and redeem funds with high idiosyncratic volatility (IV). Investors' tendency to purchase high IV funds is largely driven by high IV funds having more extreme returns, which increases the salience of the fund. Including flexible...