The purpose of this paper is to lay out a logical approach for understanding the flow of funds system and its role in the financial crisis of 2008. It presents the flow of funds system without bogging down into the Fed's flow of funds accounting reports. Once the flow of funds is understood, we...

In this paper, we analyze economies of scale for German mutual fund complexes. Using 2002-2005 data of 41 investment management companies, we specify a hedonic translog cost function. Applying a fixed effects regression on a one-way error component model there is clear evidence of significant...

In this paper, we analyze economies of scale for German mutual fund complexes. Using 2002-2005 data of 41 investment management companies, we specify a hedonic translog cost function. Applying a fixed effects regression on a one-way error component model there is clear evidence of significant...

Kathryn Judge of Columbia University documents how financial intermediaries persistently impose high fees compared to the value rendered, attributes this to political influence, and suggests countervailing policy strategies, including stoking competition and enhancing disclosure to reduce...

The purpose of this doctoral thesis is clearly established: to understand whether fund of hedge funds based portable alpha strategies provide tools for better investment results commensurate with risk and costs.A finance literature review is presented, which also delves into the roots of hedge...

Fund managers are paid a fixed management fee in proportion to their assets under management. This means to maximize revenue, managers hoard assets. Whilst this results in increased revenue for the manager often, due to diseconomies of scale, it results in lower returns for the investor. Here we...

This is the first study of corporate-bond mutual fund performance that examines detailed security-level holdings and returns. The new database allows us to decompose the costs and benefits of active management. In contrast to prior research on equity funds that shows evidence of stock-selection...

Fund managers can only exhibit selectivity through purchasing (selling) stocks that appreciate (depreciate) more frequently than expected from random occurrence, if stocks are incorrectly priced. We develop a method that can statistically identify fund managers that exhibit net, buy, and sell...

We examine the effect of mutual fund fee structure on mutual fund exit mode and timing. The evidence presented herein is consistent with mutual fund sponsor or manager fee maximization, increased conflicts of interest for funds charging 12b-1 fees and higher management fees, and a pecking order...