We use a panel of investment-grade bonds to investigate why credit spreads are so much larger than expected losses from default. We find that systematic factors contribute little to spreads, even if higher moments or downside effects are incorporated. Instead, two idiosyncratic risk factors,...

Dichev (2007, American Economic Review), in an influential paper, examines the gap between the performance of major stock markets and the dollar-weighted performance of investors in these markets. He finds a significant gap of 1.3 percent per year for NYSE/AMEX and 1.5 percent internationally....

Existing work on mutual fund performance persistence has obtained diverse results, depending on the group of funds studied. We examine whether performance persistence within a peer group of competing mutual funds depends on the group's composition. The UK mutual fund industry is ideal for such...