This paper documents a link between the real and financial sides of the economy. We find that retail equity mutual fund flows in Canada are negatively related to current and past changes in a component of the prime and 5-year mortgage rates that is uncorrelated with government rates. The effect...

In this study, I compare the fund selection criteria used by investors in retail mutual funds with the criteria of investors in institutional mutual funds. I show several differences in investment flow patterns between retail and institutional funds, which are consistent with differences in...

We analyze the expense ratio and attributes affecting the performance of 136 retail S&P 500 Index funds. These funds are among the simplest of financial vehicles. Nonetheless, the expense ratios and performance of these benchmark trackers differ significantly.Our univariate analysis shows that...

This paper compares the fund selection criteria used by investors in retail mutual funds with the criteria of investors in institutional mutual funds. I find that, compared with investors of retail mutual funds, clients of institutional mutual funds use more quantitatively sophisticated criteria...

In this paper, we examine and compare the form of the flow-performance relationship for U.S. retail and institutional mutual funds. We provide evidence that the convex form of the flow-performance function documented by previous research characterizes mostly the relationship in the upper region...

Purpose: I investigate the dynamics of mutual fund investment flows across the business cycle. To account for the differences in the flow patterns of funds catered for institutional investors and those focusing on retail investors, I conduct my investigation separately for flows of institutional...

This paper compares the fund selection criteria used by investors in retail mutual funds with the criteria of investors in institutional mutual funds. We find that, compared with investors of retail mutual funds, clients of institutional mutual funds use more quantitatively sophisticated...

There is mounting evidence that retail investors make predictable, costly investment mistakes, including underinvestment, naïve diversification, and payment of excessive fund fees. Over the past thirty-five years, however, participant-directed 401(k) plans have largely replaced professionally...

Do sophisticated investors exhibit a stronger “smart money” effect than unsophisticated ones? In this paper, I examine whether fund selection ability of institutional mutual fund investors is better than that of retail mutual fund investors. In line with the studies of Gruber (1996), Zheng...