We propose that investor beliefs frequently “cross” in the sense that an investor may like company A, but dislike company B, while another investor may like company B, but dislike company A. Belief-crossing makes it almost impossible to construct a portfolio that is comprised solely of every...

This paper examines the relation between idiosyncratic risk and mutual fund performance using asset pricing models. We use a unique data set containing monthly returns of 949 UK equity mutual funds over a 28-year period to measure fund performance. We find that idiosyncratic risk cannot be...

Using a comprehensive sample of 164 domestic equity Smart Beta (SB) ETFs during 2003-2014 period, I analyze whether these funds beat their benchmarks by tilting their portfolios to well-known factors such as size, value, momentum, quality, beta and volatility. I then test if Smart Beta funds...

We examine whether independent directors with multiple board affiliations (IDMAs) trade off the interests of one fund relative to another (fund favoritism) or whether they benefit fund shareholders by increasing the level of the board's expertise. Using a sample of mutual funds affiliated with...

The popularity of passive investing through index mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has grown substantially over recent years, displacing higher-cost active investment styles. A shift towards passive investing could affect securities markets in two key ways. First, it could result in...

We conduct an analysis of Exchange-traded Funds (ETFs), Index and Equity mutual funds and their respective benchmark during the 2010-2015 period for the Portuguese fund industry. For the period 2010-2017 we test ETFs for price inefficiency (existence of deviations between prices and the Net...

Some exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are specifically designed for harvesting factor premiums, such as the size, value, momentum, and low-volatility effects. Other ETFs, however, may implicitly go against these factors. This paper analyzes the factor exposures of U.S. equity ETFs and finds that,...

Do politically diverse teams perform worse when political disagreement increases? No – despite greater political disagreement during Covid-19, politically diverse mutual fund teams outperform in terms of both fund returns and fund flows. Return outperformance is driven by pre-existing...

Taking a firm's competitive position into account benefits investors who are better at evaluating this qualitative information. I find that fund managers who overweight companies with market power outperform their peers. Placebo exercises and an exogenous shock to product market competition...

This study investigates the impact of flows between bond and equity funds on investment factors over the period 1984-2015. It determines contemporaneous mispricing effects and a statistical reversal relation between these flows and both legs of the investment factor. The statistical reversal...