When sellers set the price for ex-ante unobservable and ex-post unenforceable quality, price signals credence quality. Hedge funds resemble incomplete long-term contracts for credence goods under buyer-determined auctions. I show that hedge funds' ability to solicit investments at higher...

This paper investigates investment performance of microfinance investment funds. The examined funds have recorded lower total risk than global stocks and bonds (measured by four benchmark indices) with moderate but stable returns. The analysis revealed that investment in microfinance investment...

This paper analyzes the current use of incentive-fee-concepts for mutual funds inGermany. Following an empirical analysis about the relevance of these methods,the different methods of calculation and the influence of different parameters aredescribed. Further on it explains the impacts of...

This paper investigates investment performance of microfinance investment funds. The examined funds have recorded lower total risk than global stocks and bonds (measured by four benchmark indices) with moderate but stable returns. The analysis revealed that investment in microfinance investment...

This paper examines the compliance of a large sample of faith-based ethical funds – Shari'ah equity funds (SEFs). SEFs screen their investment for compliance with Islamic law, where riba (conventional interest expense), maysir (gambling), gharar (excessive uncertainty), and non-halal...

This paper investigates investment performance of the most commercially developed microfinance investment funds and it also includes a discussion of major economic characteristics of microfinance investments. When we analyze the relation between microfinance funds' returns and the performance of...

Using novel data on investors' bond portfolios, we study the contagion of the crisis from securitized bonds to corporate bonds. When securitized bonds became “toxic” in August 2007, mutual funds retained the now illiquid securitized bonds and sold corporate bonds. Funds with negative flows...

The Italian mutual fund industry is in a severe crisis: its net assets have been experiencing a constant decrease since 1999, from 42% of GDP to 8% in 2011. Its returns are poor, too. An investment in mutual funds has accumulated in its 28-year life a loss larger than the initial asset value, if...

We analyze the use of derivatives in Italian equity mutual funds from December 2002 to May 2007. We find that the average asset allocation in derivatives increased considerably during this time frame, roughly coinciding with the harmonization of Italian regulation of mutual funds to European...

Liquidity has its systemic aspect that is frequently neglected in research and risk management applications. We build a model that focuses on systemic aspects of liquidity and its links with solvency conditions accounting for pertinent interactions between market participants in an agent-based...