Assets invested in passively managed equity mutual funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs) have grown steadily in recent years, reaching more than one trillion dollars at the end of 2010. Through a battery of tests, we establish that the rise in popularity of index investing contributes to higher...

The authors found that the rise in popularity of index trading — assets invested in index funds reached more than $1 trillion at the end of 2010 — contributes to higher systematic equity market risk. More equity index trading corresponds to increased cross-sectional trading commonality,...

We propose a model of portfolio selection that adjusts an investors' portfolio allocation in accordance with changing market liquidity environments and market conditions. We found that market liquidity provides a useful “leading indicator” in dynamic asset allocation. Specifically, market...

Substantially increased institutional investing and index trading in the U.S. stock market have a meaningful impact on the mechanical relationship between return co-movement and liquidity, which can be quantified by a power law function and explained by a liquidity supply model. Three...