A low-interest rate environment induces higher demand for income-generating assets, such as high-dividend stocks and high-coupon bonds. In this paper, we explore the impact of this “reaching-for-income” phenomenon on fund flows of corporate bond mutual funds. We find that high...

We examine the daily activity and performance of a large panel of individual investors in Sweden's Premium Pension System. We find that active investors earn higher returns and risk-adjusted returns than inactive investors. A performance decomposition analysis reveals that most of the...

We analyze the three components of active management (asset allocation, market timing and security selection) in the net performance of U.S. pension funds and relate these to fund size and the liquidity of the investments. On average, the funds in our sample have an annual net alpha of 89 basis...

Managers investing on behalf of pension plan sponsors (i.e. pension funds) face greater fiduciary responsibilities and more stringent investment mandates than mutual funds. These constraints may reduce the information content of pension fund trading. Consistent with this view, we find that the...

The aim of the paper is to develop a technique for rebalancing pension fund portfolios in function of their point wise level of risk. The performance of pension funds is often measured by their global asset returns because of the latter's influence on periodic contributions and/or future...

This study investigates the relationship between governance, investment performance and asset allocation of pension funds in Switzerland. Our sample includes survey data from 139 Swiss occupational pension plans for which we develop a governance metric comprising attributes of organisational...

We study how pension fund (out)performance is influenced by a) a pension fund's activity, i.e., how much the pension fund deviates in its stock allocation from the typical pension fund behavior, and b) whether the pension fund exploits short- or long-term mispricing opportunities (measured by...

In this paper we analyze the impact hedging longevity risk can have on a pension fund's funding ratio volatility and ALM strategy. Our model captures all relevant aspects of the ALM problem and is calibrated to industry statistics; however, we've sacrificed model complexity to make the solution...

We examine the daily activity and performance of a large panel of individual investors in Sweden's Premium Pension System. We find that active investors earn significantly higher returns and risk-adjusted returns than inactive investors. A performance decomposition analysis reveals that most of...

We examine the daily activity and performance of a large panel of individual investors in Sweden's Premium Pension System in the period 2000 to 2010. We find that active investors outperform passive investors, and that there is a causal effect of fund changes on performance. Chosen funds...