The consensus wisdom of active mutual fund managers, as reflected in their average over- and underweighting decisions, contains valuable information about future stock returns. Analyzing a comprehensive sample of active U.S. equity funds 1984-2008, we find that stocks heavily overweighted by...

Using data from surveys as well as as real transactions we analyze which and why investors choose funds with performance fees even though these funds may be more expensive. According to agency theory, performance fees could incentivize managers to achieve better returns, but they could also...

I find that the risk correction in the Daniel et al. (1997) (DGTW) benchmarks is less than perfect. In light of the small 79bps selection skill DGTW find, a more precise risk measure is required. I use the utility based performance measure suggested by Goetzmann et al. (2007) (MPPM) and compare...

This paper examines the determinants of cross-sectional variation in post-merger mutual fund performance. Mergers between funds with similar management objectives, as reflected by average portfolio book-to-market ratio, price-earnings ratio, beta and market capitalization values, outperform...

This paper proposes a novel approach to determine whether mutual funds time the market. The proposed approach builds on a heterogeneous agent model, where investors switch between cash and stocks depending on a certain switching rule. This represents a more flexible, intuitive, and parsimonious...

This paper documents the trading behaviour of actively managed equity mutual funds from the perspective of their trading cost management. Consistent with the predictions in the literature of portfolio choice with trading costs, I present three main findings. Firstly, mutual funds trade more...

This paper examines whether investors' optimism about the future economic growth affects their future investment decisions. Drawing from the insights of the theoretical literature on investment behavior, we argue that investors base their future investment decisions not only on asset-specific...

In choosing a glide path strategy for asset allocation over their working lives, retirement savers face a tradeoff between the higher expected wealth provided by strategies that maintain or increase equity holdings over time, against the greater potential security offered from shifting into more...

The distribution strategies of mutual funds directly or indirectly affect both their growth and their revenues. The extent of resources dedicated by a fund to its distribution channel(s) is therefore an important strategic decision. For a sample of US diversified equity mutual funds in the...

The glide path of typical target date funds is based on the relatively simple assumption of risk. If an explicit term structure of risk is present or risk is time-varying, the conventional glide path may not be adequate to fulfil the purpose of target date funds. We introduce a new approach to...