This paper examines the relation between the performance of small-cap equity mutual funds and the liquidity characteristics of their asset holdings. We study the trading behavior of fund managers and show that on average, they tend to buy less liquid stocks and sell the more liquid stocks. We...

Noted economist, Harry Markowitz (“Markowitz) received a Nobel Prize for his pioneering theoretical contributions to financial economics and corporate finance. His innovative work established the underpinnings for Modern Portfolio Theory — an investment framework for the selection and...

Risk parity is an asset allocation strategy designed so each asset class contributes equally to overall portfolio risk (as measured by volatility). While risk parity offers potential advantages, its success hinges on key assumptions and a favorable environment for bonds. Like the traditional...

Interest rate risk is the exposure of a bank's financial condition to adverse movements in interest rates. Changes in interest rates affect a bank's earnings by changing its net interest income and also affect the underlying value of the bank's assets, liabilities and off-balance sheet...

Using exogenous wealth shocks stemming from the collapse of the housing market, we show that managers who experience substantial losses in their home values subsequently reduce the risk in their delegated funds. The decline in fund risk comes through reductions in idiosyncratic risk and tracking...

Using survey data we analyze institutional investors' expectations about the future performance of fund managers and the impact of those expectations on asset allocation decisions. We find that institutional investors allocate funds mainly on the basis of fund managers' past performance and of...

InvestorLit is a subscription service providing reviews of institutional investment literature. The reviews cover a wide range of investment topics and are published online. Bruce Grantier, founder of InvestorLit, is a member of the Brandes Institute Advisory Board. Members of the InvestorLit...

Passive investing, particularly in emerging markets, has become an increasingly popular means of quick, “diversified” exposure to a particular segment of the markets. Flows into passive emerging market products have been so strong that assets in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) designed to...

This paper contains facts and introductory concepts on Asset and Liability Management, Funds Transfer Pricing Systems and Funding Costs. Banks, hedge funds and more generally finance companies engage in complex capital market activities that involve trading of instruments in derivative or cash...

Constructing a multi-asset portfolio with a constraint of tail risk aversion is challenging because (1) the individual asset classes have poor tail risk characteristics and (2) diversification between asset classes is minimal. A better portfolio can be achieved using a multi-strategy framework...