In this paper we investigate the relationship between portfolio returns and idiosyncratic risk for Australian stocks. We report that the portfolio with highest idiosyncratic volatility generates an average annual return of over 45%. We observe additionally that the outcome is consistent with an...

This paper tests the efficiency of capital markets when information is costly to obtain by analysing the performance of Australian wholesale superannuation funds specialising in the management of domestic equity portfolios from 1991 through 1999. Using a fund regression approach, the paper finds...

In this performance evaluation study, two questions are addressed. First, does Australia’s superannuation management industry deliver returns commensurate with the risk taken? Second, what is the relationship between cost (specifically, the management expense ratio) and performance? The...

In this asset pricing study, three questions are addressed. First, does the multifactor model of Fama and French (1993) capture returns in Asian stock markets in a meaningful manner? Second, do small firms and high book-to-market equity firms carry a risk premia? Third, can competing hypotheses...

In this analysis of institutional investor performance, two questions are addressed. First, what degree of similarity is observed within the market place for retail superannuation funds? Second, what are the implications of homogenous behaviour for member choice policy? The answers from this...

For participants in defined contribution (DC) plans who refrain from exercising investment choice, plan contributions are invested following the default investment option of their respective plans. Since default investment options of different plans vary widely in terms of their benchmark asset...

Standard asset pricing models ignore idiosyncratic risk. In this study, we examine if idiosyncratic or unique risk affects returns for New Zealand stocks using the factor portfolio mimicking approach of Fama and French (1993, 1996). We find evidence of a negative relationship between firm size...

Purpose – Malkiel and Xu state that idiosyncratic volatility is highly correlated with size and that it plays a powerful role in explaining expected returns. The purpose of this paper is to ask whether idiosyncratic volatility is useful in explaining the variation in expected returns; and...