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...

This paper evaluates numerous diversification strategies as a possible remedy against widespread costly investment mistakes of individual investors. Our results reveal that a very broad range of simple heuristic allocation schemes offers similar diversification gains, as well-established or...

We test the abilities of the Stiftung Warentest fund rating system to predict future fund performance among German registered funds for six equity categories: Germany, Euro-Zone, Europe, North-America, Pacific, and World. Stiftung Warentest is a consumer protection agency and a major provider...

By quantifying the tone of firm-specific articles in leading national newspapers between 1989 and 2010, we propose a bottom-up measure of aggregate journalist disagreement. In line with theoretical considerations, our novel high-frequency proxy for differences of opinion negatively forecasts the...

We explore the dimensionality of stock returns in North America, Europe, Japan, Pacific, and Emerging Markets on the basis of 240 cross-sectional predictors. Our approach allows us to identify those predictors that are most consistently related to nonmicro-cap stock returns (i.e., independent of...

Motivated by McLean and Pontiff (2016), we study the pre- and post-publication return predictability of 241 cross-sectional anomalies in 39 stock markets. Based on more than two million anomaly country-months, we find that the United States is the only country with a reliable post-publication...

This study provides new insight into the recent debate on profitability and investment patterns in the cross-section of expected returns. Relying on implied risk premia of U.S. corporate bonds, we document a strong negative relation between exposure to the profitability factor and cost of debt....

Prior research has shown that information diffuses gradually across stocks that are economically linked at the industry level. I document a similar pattern when stock portfolios are formed based on characteristics that are used in the anomaly literature (e.g., size, value, asset growth)....