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The disposition effect is an irrational behavior of investors, that is, investors tend to sell winners too early and hold losers too long. There are many researches on the disposition effect of stock market, but few researches about the fund market. Therefore, we sort out the relevant literature examining the existence of the disposition effect of securities investment fund in China. Then, we use data of 306 open-end funds in China from 2010 to 2018 to examine the existence of the disposition effect of securities investment fund in China by establishing VAR model. The empirical results show that: there is no disposition effect on securities investment fund in China.

This study examines the performance persistence of Chinese equity securities investment funds during the period between May 2003 and May 2014. We apply the recursive portfolio formation methodology of Carhart (1997). The results from sorting funds either by past 4-factor alphas or by t-statistics of past alphas suggest that the top ranked decile portfolio yields statistically and economically significant forwarding looking alphas. In respect of past decile loser funds, there is no evidence that underperformance among Chinese loser funds persists. In addition, we apply the recursive portfolio formation methodology for alternative ‘smaller’ portfolios of a fixed size and find that almost all the smaller portfolios of past winning funds produce positive and statistically significant forward looking alphas. Hence an active portfolio strategy for the Chinese securities investment fund industry of selecting a small number of past outperforming funds may earn positive abnormal returns after the deduction of management fees.

Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is important to achieve a sustainable recycling-oriented circular economy system because EPR can guarantee that recycling companies obtain average profit margins. A unique Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) fund system was implemented in China in 2012. However, the fund system encountered a dilemma: it cannot pay for itself. A Fund Balance Analysis Model is built to estimate the accumulated government fund deficit. The result shows that the deficit will grow to $33.0 billion from 2012 to 2030. A new fund operation mode, which adds the consumer pay part, is established in this study. This mode uses 5 years as a fund adjustment time interval and the period of 2015–2050 is divided into 7 intervals. According to the time sequence, a gradually increasing fund collection standard, which is easy for consumers to adopt, is determined to achieve a sustainable fund system. Given that the Electrical and Electronic Equipment sales quantity in China is obviously higher than the formally dismantled WEEE in recent years, the funds collected will be higher than subsidies, and a fund pool will be formed in the early stage. This fund pool plays an important role in the establishment of sustainable fund operations as it will continue to provide a capital source for the fund appreciation in the ensuing years. The incentive problem of eco-design can be easily solved by this new mode because China's government plays a strong role in the WEEE fund operation and can directly reward the producers that meet the eco-design requirements. Additionally, this mode is very convenient for addressing external factors, such as the eco-design and trans-boundary trade, with a few changes in the fund collection standard.

This study investigates the effect of manager turnover on fund returns in China, the largest developing market. Using unique Chinese data, we extend the study of Khorana (2001) by classifying manager turnover as internal relocation, switch to outside mutual fund, switch to hedge fund, and dropout from the fund industry. Among the four types of manager turnover, only dropout shows significantly negative pre-replacement and positive post-replacement excess returns over the benchmark. When a skilled (an unskilled) manager is replaced, post-replacement performance gets worse (better) than pre-replacement performance. A takeover of a fund by an experienced manager is likely to result in better post-replacement performance than takeover by an inexperienced manager.

This study aims to reconstruct the performance assessment model on Pension Fund by modifying Baldrige Assessment method that is adjusted to the conditions in Dana Pensiun A (Pension Fund A) in order to realize Good Pension Fund Governance. This study design uses case study analysis. The research sites were conducted in Dana Pensiun A. The informants in the study included the employer, supervisory board, pension fund management, active and passive pension fund participant as well as financial services authority elements as the regulator. The result of this research is a construction of a comprehensive and profound retirement performance assessment model with attention to aspects of growth and fair distribution. The model includes the parameters of leadership, strategic planning, stakeholders focus, measurement, analysis, and knowledge management, workforce focus, standard operational procedure focus, result, just and fair distribution of wealth and power

Over the years, the South African retirement fund industry has experienced major regulatory changes. These changes were aimed at imposing a higher standard of governance on the boards of trustees governing various pension funds. As such, there has been a debate within the retirement fund industry as to whom the board, as the governing and managing body of the retirement fund, is accountable. South African courts and tribunals adjudicating pension fund related disputes and the retirement industry at large seem to share the view that the board of trustees is accountable to both the fund and its members. In that the board of trustees owes fiduciary duties to both the fund and its members, meaning that the board is required to act in the best interest of the fund and its members. However, in this paper I demonstrate that the boards of trustees of South African Pension Funds are accountable to and owe fiduciary duties only to the fund they serve and not members of those funds. Furthermore, I submit that at the very best the board owes a duty of good faith towards the members of the fund. In order to substantiate my submissions, I distinguish the legal position relating to trust law from the law relating to retirement funds in South Africa.

This paper examines the relationship between the increase in fund risk and subsequent cash flows. We attempt to test the hypothesis that an increase in fund risk actually increases the net flows of equity funds, which is a basic assumption of risk shifting. We find that a change in fund risk has a positive and convex relationship with the fund's net flows. The effect of risk changes on net flows is a natural consequence of its effects on inflows and outflows. This paper's empirical results are robust to return frequency, fund age, and fund size. Our findings create incentives for managers to shift risk as documented in the mutual fund literature.

This report examines the evaluation of capacity in an investment management context, outlining the key issues and various methods of analysis. We address the following question: “how large can a fund get before it is unable to create additional value for its investors?” In doing so, we frame the discussion under the assumption that an active fund forms a portfolio based on a particular investment ‘signal’, which should be read as a general term for the information or process by which investment opportunities are identified. A signal may comprise indicators, forecasts, viewpoints, a strategy, and so on. The issue being considered is how far a signal can be leveraged through additional funds under management (FUM), before management should consider either closing the fund to new money, or changing the signal and thus the investment process.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the information content of mutual fund flows and its indication on investors’ preference/tolerance toward risk. Design/methodology/approach Mutual funds are grouped into different categories based on assets with different levels of risk perceptions (e.g. equity fund, money market fund), and this information is publicly accessible. This paper examines the correlation patterns between fund flows and changes in credit default swaps (CDS) spreads. In addition, it also examines such a relation by dividing the samples into different fund types (e.g. retail vs institutional fund flows). Findings This paper suggests that equity fund flows are negatively related to CDS spreads, whereas money market fund flows are positively related to CDS spreads. Furthermore, it indicates that retail fund flows provide insightful information and serve as the primary driver behind the relation between fund flows and CDS spreads. Originality/value The findings of this paper indicate that flows into equity and money market funds could serve as a risk sentiment in credit markets. And this is the first study, to the best of the author’s knowledge, to establish such a linkage between fund flows and CDS spreads to help investors gauge credit market sentiment.

In this paper, we first review some important aspects of asset allocation for some typical large Social Security Reserve Funds (SSRFs) in the world. Then we present the mean-variance model with CVaR constraints as asset allocation methodology. Concerning the real circumstance in China, we apply the model to pension fund asset allocation. The empirical results show that to maintain purchase power of pension fund, certain proportion should be invested in stocks as well as direct equity investments. We also find that time horizon significantly influence asset allocation of pension fund. If time horizon is longer, more allocations to stocks and equity investments help the pension fund to achieve better performance.

We develop a trade-level measure to evaluate fund managers’ efficiency in their buying and selling activities relative to the trades of other fund managers. We customize an additive Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model to focus on risk-adjusted returns during different time periods as trade-level outcomes. The model does not consider any input–output process. Instead, it considers tradeoffs between multiple outcomes. We find that fund managers do not have symmetric ability in buying and selling. Some managers do well in buy transactions but not in sell transactions while others perform well in selling but not in buying. We also explore the determinants of fund managers’ trading performance. Compared to trade characteristics, portfolio characteristics have a greater influence in explaining fund managers’ relative trading efficiency.

Motivation: Securitisation investment funds are considered as the most suitable vehicle for the process of securitisation. The paper refers to the issue of establishing, functioning and development of securitisation investment funds in Poland, which are special type of closed-end investment funds managed by investment fund companies (IFC).Aim: The aim of the paper is an appraisal of the securitisation investment funds market in Poland with a special attention paid to its evolution and prospects of development. In the paper a securitisation investment fund was presented as a one of the type of investment funds in Poland based on the Polish legislation. We enclose the results of the survey conducted in Poland amongst the mentioned funds and present the appraisal of major stimulants and barriers of development of securitisation and securitisation investment funds market.Results: Upon the research we find that despite low level of using of securitisation in the past its perspectives of development are appraised positively by IFCs. Majority of questioned IFCs indicate existence of particular barriers for development of securitisation in Poland. According to IFCs with and without securitisation investment funds, the most problematic areas are: lack of proper regulations and high complexity of the securitisation itself. From the point of view of investment funds industry securitisation is evaluated as of average interest despite funds are leading in development of the considered financial technique in Poland.

Purpose To explain the guidance published on January 6, 2016 by the SEC’s Division of Investment Management containing its views and recommendations relating to mutual fund distribution and sub-accounting fees. Design/methodology/approach Explains the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations focus on “distribution in guise” payments, its 2013 “sweep exam,” an enforcement action against a fund’s adviser and affiliated distributor related to payments for distribution-related activities outside of a 12b-1 plan, lists SEC staff recommendations with respect to mutual fund distribution and sub-accounting fees, summarizes the SEC’s guidance on board oversight of sub-accounting fees, provides indicia that a payment may be for distribution-related activities, and points to the need for mutual funds to have policies and procedures designed to prevent violations of Section 12(b) and Rule 12b-1. Findings The guidance is an outgrowth of the staff’s observations from a three-year “distribution in guise” sweep exam of mutual fund complexes, investment advisers, broker-dealers and transfer agents conducted by the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations and other offices and divisions of the SEC to identify whether firms were using fund assets to directly or indirectly finance any activities primarily intended to result in the sale of fund shares outside of an approved Rule 12b-1 distribution plan. Originality/value Practical guidance from experienced financial services lawyers.

Despite the growth seen in the private real estate fund market, there remains a paucity of academic work on their performance drivers and risk characteristics. This study empirically examines the characteristics and drivers who influence the performance and investment activity of private real estate funds. A detailed sample of US-focused closed-ended Value add and Opportunity funds is used to do this. Both absolute and relative performance measures are used, including the public market equivalent measure. This is more widely used in the private equity studies but to date has been little used in real estate work. The analysis showed that there was generally little statistical significance observed for fund characteristics being drivers of fund performance. Fund size was found to have limited influence upon subsequent performance and sector specialisation was only accretive for outperforming funds. Total vintage year capital flows negatively impacted performance irrespective of measure used. Fund in...

The aim of this study is to shed some light on the factors determining the investment decisions of Sovereign Wealth Funds. Using the financial data from companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, the author employs a logit model to analyse the probability that firms are targeted for investment by the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund. These findings suggest that not only the growth of earnings per share increases the probability of such investment, but that also a company whose shares have been bought by the Government Pension Fund Global has, on average, a higher level of earnings per share than companies not targeted by the Fund. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the investment activities of the world’s largest Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Results achieved by the pension fund depend on how well they are managed or more specifically – on whether all decisions taken by the management are in favour of the fund participants. The goal of this paper is to examine how to harmonize interests of second pillar pension fund participants and fund managing company shareholders. An interview with executives of all pension funds managing companies was performed twice – in 2011 and 2016. The answers allow to make conclusions about possible conflict of interest in pension fund management and measures taken by the companies and the state to minimize the risk. A survey of 507 pension fund participants was performed in order to obtain information on participants’ attitude and expectations. Despite the fact that most of participants are dissatisfied with the pension fund performance results, they would not agree to allocate additional resources to hire more competent managers. To protect the interests of pension fund participants the stability of the pension accumulation system as a whole must be ensured. Also it is important to promote mutual confidence of all interested parties, to provide participants with easily understandable information, reflecting real performance results.

This study examines family-level risk taking behavior from the perspective of the strategic choice of risk. We examine whether family-level risk taking tendency is affected by a fund family’s flow tournament position in the mutual fund industry. We use family-level excess fund flow, which is defined by the gap between the actual net flows and expected net flows of a fund family, to proxy for its interim fund-flow tournament position. A fund family is an interim winner (loser) if it experiences better (worse) than expected net flows. Two measures are used to proxy for risk taking strategy: (1) Active Share; and (2) the Standard Deviation of Fund Holdings at Family Level. Overall, we conclude that fund families classified as interim losers and top interim winners in a net flow tournament position exhibit risk taking propensities. Bottom dwellers increase risk for survival, whereas leaders increase risk to retain their leadership.

This study examines how increased regulatory attention to portfolio pumping affects the trading behavior of U.S. mutual funds. Attention by regulators should increase the likelihood of fines and reputational damage, raising the cost of such last-minute price manipulation. Consistent with this assertion, we find that last-minute price spikes in aggregate fund indices, in fund holdings and in institutional trading around quarter-ends declined, the declines are largest around year-ends, for small-cap and better-performing funds, and occurred faster for funds headquartered near SEC regional offices. These findings suggest that increased regulatory attention reduced portfolio pumping by U.S. mutual funds.

The investment fund governance frameworks of the U.S., the largest fund domicile globally, and Luxembourg, the second-largest domicile, differ significantly. U.S. funds have mandatory independent directors and these directors are empowered to be the watchdogs of the fund investors, negotiating fees with the fund management company on their behalf. This is not the case for Luxembourg funds, established in accordance with the E.U. UCITS Directive. This study uses a sample of Luxembourg UCITS funds and shows that, although there is no regulatory requirement, approximately half of the sample funds have appointed at least one independent board member. Among Anglo-Saxon fund promoters of these Luxembourg funds, the level of independence is higher than among continental European promoters and has increased in the past decade. In that same period, continental European promoters have decreased the level of independence of their funds boards. A survey among board members of the sample funds showed that, in absence of the requirement to negotiate fees with the fund management company, Luxembourg boards give relatively low priority to costs, which they see as an area that is primarily the prerogative of the promoter. That this is irrespective of whether the board has independent board members, is consistent with earlier quantitative research, that did not provide consistent evidence that funds with more independent boards have lower costs. "Keywords: "" Investment funds; European Union; Governance; Board of directors; Board independence;Fund costs."""

Retirement savings allow investors to earn income after retirement by saving while being part of the workforce. Retirement savings comprise the largest portion of retirement savings and should be safeguarded by effective regulation. To safeguard retirement savings, exposure to foreign asset investments is limited. However, in an emerging economy, limiting foreign asset investments, especially investment in developed markets, could hamper the potential investment returns due to the translation risk. To assess the effect of translation risk, a preservation provident fund was used in the present study to determine whether the returns of this preservation provident fund would be adversely affected by investment allocation regulation. The findings indicated how the translation effect affected the preservation provident fund, illustrating the adverse unintended consequences of investment regulation in emerging market economies. Consequently, regulators should reconsider the maximum allowed foreign asset investment in pension fund regulations to enhance investment returns from foreign asset investments

Student-managed investment funds are popular forms of experiential learning in business schools and finance departments. The investment management experience is a real world activity and the structure of the fund may also introduce real world fiduciary and legal responsibilities for students, faculty, and administrators. The authors review how the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIF) and Investment Advisers Act of 1940 apply to common structures of student-managed funds. They summarize their findings to suggest the best structure of a student-managed fund depending on the source of funding and relevant requirements under the UPMIF and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

The index fund market has grown dramatically in China, particularly for active index funds known as enhanced index funds (EIFs). This article is the first to thoroughly exam the performance of EIFs...

It is well known that the equity structure of listed companies have effects on the company performances to some extent. However, the fund company is one special kind of financial enterprise and the relationship between its unique equity structure and fund performance still remains in suspense. On the basis of theoretical conjectures and results of predecessors, the development history of equity structure of Chinese fund company is analyzed and the fund evaluation methods are discussed in this paper which is based on the risk adjustment of excess return. Through sieving and accounting data, we conducted an empirical study about the effects of equity structure and regional feature on fund performance. The conclusions can be drew as that the fund company with foreign capital shows no signs of highlights and we found that concentrated shareholding and national resources are beneficial to improving fund performance level. In addition, the operating time and the fund company's location, investment fund's average tenure also have influences on fund performance.

Purpose – To explain a recently settled administrative proceeding that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought against a private fund manager in connection with the use of fund assets to pay for the manager’s operating expenses. Design/methodology/approach – Explains the major takeaways from the settled case, and places them in the context of prior administrative proceedings and public statements from SEC staff. Findings – This case is the latest example of the SEC taking action against a private fund manager related to the improper deduction or allocation of expenses, and related disclosure lapses, and further cases are expected in the future. Practical implications – Private fund managers should examine their practices involving the reimbursement and allocation of expenses and related disclosures to fund investors. Originality/value – Practical guidance and explanation from experienced securities regulatory lawyers.

This study investigates determinants of net money (fund) flows of Japanese investment trusts. This paper employs a pooled regression technique that can distinguish between the impact on fund flow of raw performance and market-adjusted performance. This paper also investigates the impact of fund affiliation with large financial groups on the flow-performance sensitivity as the Japanese fund industry is often portrayed as being “fee-hungry” where large groups play an influential role. The primary determinant of future net fund flows is the fund's current raw return, which by itself can explain a large proportion of the variation in net fund flow. Hence, our model's estimates of future fund flows would be of practical use to investment managers when planning asset purchases and managing cash reserves. Interestingly, we find that if a fund is part of a large financial group then its fund flow is more sensitive to its performance.

The predominance of search fund research is focused on the mechanics of selection or the post mortem analysis of results. Our study seeks to expand on the evaluation of search funds and their role within an investment portfolio from an investor’s perspective. We review the background of search fund investing and then present a model for self-assessment by search fund investors and a general guide to screening, monitoring, and exiting search fund investments. We find that although participants in this study maintain that the search fund model aligns the interests of investors and entrepreneurs, honesty and ethics are still the most important considerations for investing. Most investors care about sales skills and operational experience over financial skills or deal-making ability.

Mutual fund advisers either expense the cost of research and other services or pay for them with soft dollars. This study is the first to use actual soft dollar and total brokerage commission figures for a large number of funds and to examine how soft dollars are linked to mutual fund governance. Employing a survivorship bias-free sample of actively managed US mutual funds, we find that higher soft dollar and total brokerage commissions are associated with higher advisory fees but not with higher risk-adjusted fund returns. These findings suggest that mutual fund shareholders, on average, do not benefit from the research and the information supplied by third parties such as brokers. We also find that larger and more highly compensated boards are associated with lower advisory fees. Larger boards are also associated with slightly lower turnover. The median tenure of board directors is negatively correlated with soft dollar commissions and turnover, but not correlated with total brokerage commissions or the cost of turning over a portfolio. Higher proportions of directors with a finance background are associated with higher advisory fees, brokerage commissions, and turnover costs. These associations might indicate greater agency costs.

This article examines the performance, selectivity, and market-timing abilities of wine fund managers over the 2000–2013 period. The authors hypothesize that wine fund managers should be able to profit from market inefficiencies on the wine market and generate abnormal returns for investors. Their results show that fund managers’ overall selectivity and market-timing abilities appear to be limited. Only one fund offers positive risk-adjusted returns and two funds show a tendency for market timing. Considering non-quantifiable risks, wine funds thus do not appear to be interesting investments.

In a dynamic structural VAR framework, we investigate how mutual fund cash flows respond to market volatilities, market returns, and fund returns, using the data of inflows and outflows obtained from Form N-SAR filings with the SEC in the EDGAR system. We find that market volatility (market return) shocks have contemporaneous negative (positive) effects on net flows. Fund return shocks have a significant effect on net flows for more than 64% of sample funds in each fund style group. Logistic regression shows the importance of diverse fund characteristics. Disposition effect of fund investors depends also on fund characteristics.

Asset Management refers to the professional management of investment funds for individuals, families, and institutions. Asset Management products are offered through separately managed accounts and through commingled vehicles such as mutual funds and private investment funds. Invested funds are generally lumped into the following categories when placed in Asset Management accounts at an investment bank: fixed income, equity, alternative investments (comprising principally of hedge fund, private equity, and real estate investments), and money market. Fund performance is a key metric when evaluating Asset Management capabilities. Investors measure this by relying on different performance measurement firms, such as Morningstar and Lipper, who compile aggregate industry data that demonstrate how individual mutual funds perform against both indexes and peer groups over time. Most major investment banks have large hedge funds housed within their Asset Management Division. These funds are managed principally for the benefit of investing clients although the bank and employees of the bank may also invest in the fund and are separate from the proprietary investing activities conducted within the Trading Division which invests solely for the account of the firm, without any outside client investments. Additionally, research is provided by all large investment banking firms to selected institutional and individual investing clients on a global basis. This research usually covers equity, fixed income, currency, and commodity markets. Research professionals also focus on economics, portfolio strategy, derivatives, and credit issues, offering insights and ideas based on fundamental research.

The rapid growth and development of the mutual fund industry throughout the world stimulated vast contemporary studies focusing on a wide range of issues predominantly of microeconomic character, such as fund performance, timing ability, fees and fund flows, thus leaving determinants and attributes of mutual fund industry development beyond their research. The rare relevant studies predict that development of the mutual fund industry depends on a number of factors among which the predominant role belongs to development of the economic and financial systems, and quality of governance and regulatory basis. One essential condition of validity of this prediction is that it is based upon a sample of developed economies, thus leaving a space for the likelihood that under condition of developing or middle-income economies some expectations may substantially deviate from the predication. This paper aims to reevaluate the significance of the impact of individual macro- and microeconomic factors, which were identified in previous studies, on size of asset under management in the sample of high- and middle-income economies of Central and Eastern Europe by means of regressing the total size of the mutual fund industry and size of its separate components, such as equity, fixed income and money market asset management over a number of independent variables. The obtained results indicate that out of a wide range of factors, the high explanatory power of which was stressed by earlier studies, only a small group of them turned out to be significant in our research. In particular, it was found that the size of the CEE mutual fund industry in general and the sizes of its particular segments respond positively on increase of country openness to trade and capital inflows, development and stability of local financial and capital markets, improvement of quality of governance and regulatory basis. Also some controversial evidence was obtained on the role of change in government indebtedness for explaining the size of the mutual fund industry – in general, there is a significantly positive impact of a decrease of central government debt on the size of CEE asset management, however its sign is not consistent across all subcategories of funds. Although the chosen sample does not cover as large a number of countries as previous studies, it provides brief insight into the CEE mutual fund industry, documenting important country and regional characteristics.

Using data collected from equity mutual fund reports filed by single-fund registrants to the Securities and Exchange Commission, I study the determinants of brokerage commissions paid by fund managers when they buy or sell securities and investigate the role these commissions play in fund performance. Consistent with related studies, my results from cross-sectional analyses reveal that higher portfolio turnover funds are associated with higher commissions and larger funds incur lower commissions, as well as the positive relation between expense ratios and commissions. This positive relation is puzzling as most commissions include “soft dollars” for payments of products and services that should be already covered by the costs reported under expense ratios. However, once I take into account unobservable fund heterogeneity, I find that higher expense ratio funds do not necessarily pay higher commissions. Further, controlling for whether a fund increased commission payments as the result of flow-induced trading, I show that the underperformance related to brokerage commissions documented in the literature is attributable (at least partly) to higher level of fund flows.

This paper investigates the ability of Morningstar superannuation fund ratings to predict future performance in the context of the Australian superannuation fund industry. In this context, we make provisions for fund size and fund age. We draw three broad conclusions. First, fund ratings can assist in predicting funds that are likely to significantly underperform in subsequent periods. Second, the ratings are mostly unable to distinguish between highly and moderately performing funds. Third, the likelihood of a fund being highly rated is negatively related to the size of assets under management and positively related to its age. Accordingly, the paper should be of benefit not only to fund managers seeking to identify underperforming funds, but also to fund advisers, retail investors, and trustee boards choosing SF products for investment choice menus.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the determinants of aggregate fund flows to both equity and hybrid mutual funds. The authors test three hypotheses that help explaining the relationship between mutual fund flows and stock market returns, namely; the feedback-trader hypothesis, the price-pressure hypothesis, and the information-response hypothesis. Design/methodology/approach – The study relies on Swedish quarterly data on mutual fund flows over the period 1998-2013. The methodology is twofold; through the structural models (AR(1)) the authors can say something regarding the relationship between mutual fund flows and financial macro variables. The analysis is further strengthened by utilizing a vector autoregressive model to test for Granger causality in order to determine the order of events. Findings – Similar to both Warther (1995) and Jank (2012), the authors only find support for the information-response hypothesis. Additionally, the authors find new financial variables that have predictive power in determining mutual fund flows, namely; market fear (VIX), exchange rate, households’ expectation regarding inflation as well as outflows from mutual bond funds. Originality/value – The study contributes to the body of literature in three ways. First, it complements recent findings on determinants of mutual fund flows but the authors also add to the knowledge by included new macro financial variables describing the real economy. Second, the authors include a few additional variables. Third, the vast majority of previous studies have used US data, the authors add to that a deeper understanding of determinants of mutual fund flows in smaller economies by using Swedish data.

In China, developing institutional investor, especially securities investment fund, becomes more and more important. In order to improve the level of company governance by bringing in institutional investor, China Securities Regulatory Commission supports the development of institutional investor by legislation and other polices. Papers about the relationship between fund holding and company performance are still not enough and a lot of researches don’t consider the effect of some moderator variables. This article mainly researched for the influence of shares heavily held by fund on the performance of company, using data of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen during 2007 to 2014. It also introduced two moderator variables to discuss whether there existed effects on company performance if the fund was the second largest shareholder or the holding company was state-owned. Actually, the empirical result showed that, the percentage of stocks held by fund had a positive relationship with company performance. If the fund was the second largest shareholder, it would strengthen the relationship between fund heavily holding stock and corporate performance. If the company whose stocks were held by fund was state- owned, the influence on company performance would weaken.

This article is an attempt to assess the functioning of the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global in relation to the degree of implementation of the concept’s objectives of sustainable development. The aim of the article apart from this assessment is to determine significance and the benefits of the concept to the Fund and the country. To apply the hypothetical-deductive method. The concept of sustainable development has a relatively long history in Norway. Sustainable development is not just a dead regulation, but a way of thinking Norwegians. Social awareness of balance need causes of naturalness of reconciling the economic, social and environmental interest in economy. On the one hand, Fund acting within state structures, is the implementing tool of sustainable development policy. On the other, the Fund uses assumptions of the concept to achieve sustainable economic benefits. Maturity sustainable activities of the Fund contributes to the achievement of competitive advantage among other funds. The Fund is the largest Government Pension Fund in the world in terms of net assets, of which the largest part of the market value is an inflow of capital from outside. Investors deposit their funds in it because they trust to management style. Due to the global character, size and geographical or investment diversification, manifestation of sustainable practices reaches to wide-spectrum of recipients. The range of message builds the Fund and country reputation that actively suggests the only one way to sustainable development.

This paper tests the alternative hypotheses of investment selection skills versus overconfidence of equity mutual funds managers in Taiwan. We find that fund holdings’ concentration levels are high and positively related to funds’ risk-adjusted returns in tranquil market periods; however, the concentration levels are low and more negatively related to risk-adjusted returns in turmoil market periods. The time varying concentration-performance relation is not driven by fund size. Our finding implies that fund managers have superior investment selection skills when the market is less volatile, but they exhibit overconfidence when the market is in turmoil, suggesting an investment strategy of shifting from concentrated funds to more broadly diversified funds when market condition becomes worse.

Pension plans provide an important source of retirement income for employees and their families. Pension fund managers operate in a different environment compared to other investment funds since they are subject to strict regulatory and corporate supervision as well as a different taxation system in most countries. financial ratio analysis does not consider the influence of different variables on various performance measures. This work also compares Mutual fund management efficiency with Pension Funds managers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show how overall performance can help foster trust in financial institutions. While a climate of mistrust amongst investors and the general public toward financial institutions has developed since the recent turmoil in the financial markets, it is believed that mutual funds adopting the overall performance approach can help recover a climate of trust owing to the implied balance between economic, social and environmental performance. More specifically, overall performance promotes values that are similar to investors’ values and could be used by responsible investment funds if they want to contribute to the restoration of trust in investment funds. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses an innovative, experimental design to test the effect of value similarity on the trust that investors have in the investment fund. This effect cannot be studied in isolation, which is why it is compared with the effects of financial performance and ethical labeling on trust. Findings The authors find that funds with similar values are perceived as more trustworthy by investors. Consequently, overall performance should be added to fund managers' toolbox if they want to foster trust in their fund. The effect of financial performance on trust applies only when the investor has no other information regarding the fund. As for the ethical labeling of funds, it has no effect on trust. Research limitations/implications The findings encourage research that aims to develop a comprehensive approach of integrated overall performance focusing on financial and extra-financial values. Bonnet et al.’s (2016) fieldwork on socio-economic management and Naro and Travaillé©’s (2016) work on management controllers provide promising examples in this regard. Practical implications Investment funds can acquire an edge by communicating on overall performance and specific values of their target investors. Merely labeling funds as ethical is not sufficient to increase trust. Social implications Increasing similarity in values to investors and adopting the overall performance approach in investment funds will increase investors' trust. Trust contributes to social capital and allows societies to create flexible large-scale businesses needed to be competitive in a global environment. Originality/value Using an innovative experimental methodology, this paper shows that the underlying factor of overall performance on trust in investment funds is value similarity. It provides researchers and practitioners with insight about the underlying mechanisms of the effect of overall performance on trust.

We explore an alternative, finance theory-based explanation for the documented positive relationship between fund diversification (or lack of fund specialization) and performance in venture capital (VC). Our proposed “Risk Hypothesis” posits that the expected negative impact of diversification on fund risk induces fund managers to endogenously select riskier investments, which in turn leads to higher performance of more diversified funds. While other channels may also be at play, we provide results that support this hypothesis for an international sample of VC funds. However, this effect is weakened when expertise is limited. The study offers implications of how VC fund managers' investment decisions are influenced by strategic portfolio considerations, which in turn affect which innovative ventures receive funding.

India is one of the few countries in the world which, according to the World Bank, has a household savings rate that is greater than 30%. Despite this, investment options such as mutual funds and equity instruments have a very low penetration rate, especially among rural households. Although a rapid increase in mutual fund investments has been witnessed over the last few years, with an increase of 38.47% from March 2016 to March 2017 having been declared by AMFI, much can be done in this area. Mutual Funds can be a good way of initiating new investors to financial investment securities and the capital market. The objective of this study is to determine whether an association exists between gender and the various attributes of perception towards mutual fund investments. Findings of this study can help companies design better product offerings in order to improve the penetration rate of mutual fund investments.