We study arbitrage in ETFs holding illiquid corporate bonds, focusing on authorized participants (APs) and their balance sheet space constraints. As unique ETF arbitrageurs, most APs are also bond dealers, and they use their own balance sheet in both roles. We find that bond market illiquidity...

Index-tracking fixed-income ETFs have experienced an explosive growth spurt to reach $1 trillion in 2020. However, they suffered significant disruptions during the Covid-19 crisis. We show that bank balance sheet constraints were likely a contributing factor to these disruptions because bond...

We identify fixed-income mutual funds as an important contributor to the unusually high selling pressure in liquid asset markets during the Covid-19 crisis. We show that mutual fund liquidity transformation led to pronounced investor outflows. In meeting redemptions, funds followed a pecking...

This study provides a new perspective on the rise of FinTech lending by uncovering an informational synergy with cashless payments. Theoretically, FinTech lenders screen borrowers more efficiently when borrowers use cashless payments that produce transferable and verifiable information. In turn,...

We examine voluntary disclosure when the firm (“sender”) is risk-averse and uncertain about audience preferences. We show that some firms stay silent in equilibrium, in contrast to classic “unravelling” results. Silence reduces the sensitivity of a firm's payoff to audiences'...

I model an open-end mutual fund investing in illiquid assets and show that the fund’s endogenous cash management can generate shareholder runs even with a flexible NAV. The fund optimally re-builds its cash buffers at time t + 1 after outflows at t to prevent future forced sales of illiquid...

A natural liquidity mismatch emerges when liquid exchange traded funds (ETFs) hold relatively illiquid assets. We provide a theory and empirical evidence showing that this liquidity mismatch can reduce market efficiency and increase the fragility of these ETFs. We focus on corporate bond ETFs...

I model an open-end mutual fund investing in illiquid assets and show that the fund's endogenous cash management can generate shareholder runs even with a flexible NAV. The fund optimally re-builds its cash buffers at time t + 1 after outflows at t to prevent future forced sales of illiquid...