This study collects and examines a comprehensive sample of written analyst reports for worldwide equity funds. I investigate two features related to the Berk and Green (2004) model: investor sophistication and decreasing returns to scale. First, I find that the tone in analyst reports drives...

We examine how sell-side equity analysts strategically disclose information of differing quality to the public versus the buy-side mutual fund managers to whom they are connected. We consider cases in which analysts recommend that the public buys a stock, but some fund managers sell it. We...

We develop a dynamic adverse selection model where a career-concerned buy-side analyst advises a fund manager about investment decisions. The analyst's ability is privately known, as is any information she learns over time. The manager wants to elicit information to maximize fund performance...

We study whether and how sell-side research affects the agency issue between asset managers and their clients. We show that even if sell-side research alone does not generate conflicts of interest, it can exacerbate the moral hazard problem of asset managers. Imposing transparency on the use of...

Following the Global Settlement, analysts extensively use a top pick designation to highlight their highest conviction best ideas. Such a designation enables analysts to provide greater granularity of information, but it can potentially be influenced by conflicts of interest. Examining a...

Quantitative research analysts (Quants) produce in-depth quantitative and econometric modeling of market anomalies to assist sell-side analysts and institutional clients with stock selection strategies. Quants are associated with more efficient analyst forecasting behavior on anomaly predictors...

Using a novel database, we show that the stock-price impact of analyst trade ideas is at least as large as the impact of stock recommendation, target price, and earnings forecast changes, and that investors following trade ideas can earn significant abnormal returns. Trade ideas triggered by...

We document the effects of institutional investors on the qualitative information disclosure of firms within earnings conference calls. Utilizing conference call and institutional ownership data between 2005 and 2016, we find that aggregate institutional ownership dampens conference call tone....

We find that financial analysts provide more thorough forecasts when firms’ institutional investors are distracted (i.e., when firms are neglected). We establish the causality of the effect by identifying exogenous shocks leading to institutional investor distraction following Kempf, Manconi,...

This paper investigates whether bond fund managers with credit rating experience outperform their peers. We document that bond fund managers who previously worked in credit rat- ing agencies on average create higher risk-adjusted returns than their peers by 11-16 bps per month, with better...