We analyse the determinants of Australian corporate credit default swap (CDS) spreads. In addition to structural determinants, consisting of equity returns, equity volatility and risk-free interest rates, we show that CDS spreads are impacted by the uncertainty of asset values as proxied by the...

Theoretical models of limit order books populated with liquidity traders suggest a link between order aggressiveness, spreads and the cost of waiting for order execution. We directly test these models using an experimental setting where waiting time is important for traders, namely the...

Using monthly active equity fund portfolio holdings, we examine the magnitude of style drift and decompose it into active and passive components. We find that while fund style tilts are consistent with their self-stated investment objective, there is variation in the degree of style bias within...

Industry performance is a key component of the top-down approach to investment management. The recent boom in the stock prices of mining companies in Australia affords an opportunity to examine whether equity funds are able to capture industry outperformance. Funds with a higher exposure to the...

We examine the implications of the imputation system for stock prices and returns, cost of capital, project evaluation, capital structure, payout policy and investor portfolios. We also discuss potential impacts if the imputation system was dismantled or adjusted, perhaps in conjunction with a...

Superannuation fund fees have come under public scrutiny in recent years, with some observers arguing that fees are set too high. This report focuses on a sample of Australian superannuation funds to gain a better understanding of the factors that influence the fees that they charge. We examine...

There is considerable debate about the size of fees charged by superannuation funds. This paper investigates both investment fees and administration fees and shows that there are economically valid reasons why most investment fees are set at their current level. Our results show that on average,...

Superannuation fees have come under public scrutiny in recent years with the belief that many are set too high. Using a comprehensive dataset of Australian superannuation funds, we examine the relationship between investment fees and fund performance. We find that the most expensive funds...