We examine the effect of investors' prior experience with mutual fund families on their subsequent investment decisions. Using a sample from a large discount broker, we find that investors are significantly more likely to purchase funds from families with which they have previous experience. Our...

Differences in accrued gains and investors' tax-sensitivity induce variation in a capital gains lock-in effect across mutual funds even for the same stock at the same time. Exploiting this variation, we show this effect influences funds' governance decisions: higher capital gains decrease the...

Because of differences in accrued gains and investors' tax-sensitivity, capital gains "lock-in" varies across mutual funds even for the same stock at the same time. Using this variation, we show that tax lock-in affects funds' governance decisions. Higher tax lock-in decreases the likelihood a...

Using a panel of mandatory SEC disclosure filings we test the predictability of investment fraud. We find that past regulatory and legal violations, conflicts of interest, and monitoring, are significantly associated with future fraud. Avoiding the 5% of firms with the highest fraud risk allows...

We study whether private interactions between firms and mutual funds during non-deal roadshows (NDRs) influence governance behavior. Funds headquartered in the city where the firm conducts an NDR are more likely to download proxy statements. They are also more likely to vote with management on...

We examine the portfolio holdings of Funds of Hedge Funds (FoFs) to identify the channels through which FoFs add value for their clients. FoFs offer access to a diversified portfolio of funds that would be costly for constrained investors to manage on their own. Though we find only limited...

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...

We examine why mutual funds appear to underperform hedge funds. Utilizing a unique panel of mutual fund contracts changes, we explore several possible channels, including: alternative investment practices (e.g., short sales and leverage), performance-based compensation, and the ability to...

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...