We analyze the dispersion of month-end prices simultaneously placed on identical corporate bonds by different US mutual fund managers before and after initiations of TRACE and introductions of issuers into Markit's CDS database. Disseminated bonds show large and statistically significant...

This study shows that financial advisors provide useful tax advice to their clients, being the first to provide evidence of tangible benefits delivered by financial advisors in the U.S. We find that investors who purchase mutual fund shares through financial advisors exhibit a stronger tendency...

Using detailed options holdings, we examine how mutual funds' use of options affects performance and risk. Using options generates, on average, no performance advantages. In fact, funds that follow certain distinct strategies underperformed. The only salutary impact is lower portfolio risk for a...

We are the first to show that financial advisors generate tangible benefits for their clients in the form of useful tax advice. Investors who purchase mutual funds through financial advisors exhibit a stronger tendency of avoiding taxable distributions than those who do not. Our calculations...

The validity of the price marks placed on bonds for valuation purposes is important for a diverse group of stakeholders, including investors, mutual fund managers, dealers, pricing services, and financial regulators. We analyze the dispersion of monthend price marks simultaneously placed on...

We document that prior work experience of mutual fund managers outside of the asset management industry is valuable from an investment perspective in that it provides managers with a stock picking and industry timing advantage. Fund managers' stock picks from industries where they previously...

We analyze the dispersion of month-end price marks simultaneously placed on identical corporate bonds by different US mutual fund managers before and after initiations of TRACE and introductions of issuers into Markit’s CDS database. Disseminated bonds show large and statistically significant...

We study the dispersion of month-end valuations placed on identical corporate bonds by different mutual funds. Such dispersion is related to bond-specific characteristics associated with liquidity and market volatility. TRACE may have contributed to the general decline in dispersion over our...

We examine how speed of information diffusion within mutual fund families affects the performance and trading behavior of the corresponding member mutual funds. Timely information flows within the organization lead to better fund performance, and even more so when information flows across funds...