Pricing of national index funds

This article investigates the pricing behavior of national index funds (NIFs). Under barriers to capital flows in an otherwise perfect capital market, the familiar result of zero premium/discount obtains. The more realistic assumption of imperfect cross-border arbitrage suggests that in a two country setting the NIFs will sell at a premium. In a multicountry framework, the investment barriers will result in NIFs generally trading at a premium, although theoretically one cannot rule out a discount from net asset value (NAV). A simple test supports the proposition that under investment barriers, NIFs should trade at a premium to NAV after controlling for the average domestic closed-end fund discount.     

中国开放式基金营销研究

营销是开放式基金的重要业务之一。本文试从我国开放式基金的发展历程入手,借鉴成熟资本市场的经验,探讨我国开放式基金营销中存在问题及形成原因,在结合我国资本市场的发展状况基础上,提出开放式基金营销的对策建议。     

Are mutual funds sitting ducks?

We find that patient traders profit from the predictable, flow-induced trades of mutual funds. In anticipation of a 1%-of-volume change in mutual fund flows into a stock next quarter, the institutions in the same 13F category as hedge funds trade 0.29–0.45% of volume in the current quarter. A third of the trading is associated with the subset of 504 identified hedge funds. The effect is stronger when quarterly mutual fund portfolio disclosure is required and among hedge funds with more patient capital. A one standard deviation higher measure of anticipatory trading by a hedge fund is associated with a 0.9% higher annualized four-factor alpha. A one standard deviation higher measure of anticipation of a mutual fund's trades by institutions is associated with a 0.07–0.15% lower annualized four-factor alpha. The effect is stronger for more constrained mutual funds.     

我国开放式和封闭式基金绩效比较的实证研究

近年来我国新设立的开放式基金远远多于封闭式基金。在数量迅速增长的情况下，开放式基金能否取得优于封闭式基金的绩效受到市场的普遍关注。本文选取了10家基金管理公司，每家公司各选一只开放式基金和一只封闭式基金，从收益率、风险调整后的绩效和择时能力三个方面比较了2004年1月至2005年4月期间开放式基金与封闭式基金的绩效。实证结果显示，在我国目前情况下，开放式基金的绩效略高于封闭式基金，但并不存在显著的差异．     

Fund Manager Succession in Closed-End Mutual Funds

Managing the succession process by the hiring and firing of key executives is one of the important functions of a board of directors. In this research we study successions of fund managers in the closed‐end mutual fund industry. The agency issues inherent in closed‐end mutual funds makes them a unique laboratory for such a study. Our results suggest that while the overall abnormal returns of these manager changes are statistically insignificant, that the returns are more positive for funds with large expense ratios and for funds trading at a discount. We also find the abnormal returns are negatively related to the percentage of inside director stock ownership. Corporate bond funds and international equity funds react more negatively to these announcements than other types of funds. The abnormal returns do not appear to be related to board composition, but board composition does vary across fund type, and may therefore indirectly influence the results.     

Testing the effect of portfolio holdings disclosure in an environment absent of mandatory disclosure

This study examines a number of portfolio disclosure regimes with respect to accuracy and susceptibility to copycat behaviour in an environment absent of mandatory disclosure. We find that periodic portfolio disclosure tends to underestimate true excess performance as well as idiosyncratic risk in top‐quartile fund managers, with longer inter‐reporting intervals tending to result in greater differences. ‘Copycat funds’ following the disclosed holdings of top‐tier managers significantly underperform the underlying fund, while copycats following bottom‐tier managers significantly outperform the underlying fund. Our findings suggest that periodic reporting at monthly intervals or longer would not affect fund alpha generation.     

开放式基金销售渠道的中美比较与分析

本文分析了中美开放式基金销售渠道的发展历史和现状，对两国开放式基金销售渠道的模式和特点进行了比较分析。研究发现，销售渠道的创新促进了美国共同基金业的发展，相比而言，国内开放式基金的销售渠道在广度和深度上都有待进一步拓展。     

我国证券投资基金的积极资产组合管理能力研究

本文以19支开放式基金和23支封闭式基金为研究样本,通过改进PCM模型,设计适用于非有效市场或弱有效市场的指标S,来考察我国证券投资基金在2005年1月1日至2007年6月30日这段研究区间内的积极资产组合管理能力,并对开放式基金和封闭式基金的积极资产组合管理能力进行比较分析.研究发现,开放式基金和封闭式基金均有较强的积极资产组合管理能力;封闭式基金的积极资产组合管理能力整体要高于开放式基金,特别是在上涨和震荡行情中;同时,市场走势的波动也会对基金的积极资产组合管理能力产生一定的影响.     

Determinants of hedge fund performance during ‘good’ and ‘bad’ economic periods

We analyse the drivers of hedge fund performance, focusing simultaneously on fund size, age, lockup period, fund strategies, business cycles and different market conditions, dealing with the omitted variable bias. We use exogenous break points and a switching Markov model to endogenously determine different market conditions. We find that HFs deliver positive alpha only during “good” times, irrespective of their fundamentals. During “bad” times, they minimise their systematic risk. Small and young funds, and those with redemption restrictions deliver higher alpha compared to their peers during “good” times. Finally, specific strategies deliver significantly negative alpha during “bad” times.     

我国证券投资基金的积极资产组合管理能力研究

本文以19支开放式基金和23支封闭式基金为研究样本,通过改进PCM模型,设计适用于非有效市场或弱有效市场的指标S,来考察我国证券投资基金在2005年1月1日至2007年6月30日这段研究区间内的积极资产组合管理能力,并对开放式基金和封闭式基金的积极资产组合管理能力进行比较分析。研究发现,开放式基金和封闭式基金均有较强的积极资产组合管理能力;封闭式基金的积极资产组合管理能力整体要高于开放式基金,特别是在上涨和震荡行情中;同时,市场走势的波动也会对基金的积极资产组合管理能力产生一定的影响。     

International Equity Asset Classes in the Turkish Fund Industry

We examine Turkish fund portfolios and identify the role of international investments in their formation. We find that (1) Turkish funds hold a very small fraction of international assets during 1987-2008, (2) the weight of international equity in the funds with an international mandate is smaller than the total weight of domestic asset classes as of 2009, and (3) international stock holdings of Turkish portfolio managers show significant similarity, which can be explained by the fact that the managers tend to hold stocks with which they are familiar. We compare the performance of funds that have the international investment objective with benchmark portfolios and provide suggestions for more diverse funds in the Turkish fund industry.     

Government policy and ownership of equity securities

Since World War II, direct stock ownership by households across the globe has largely been replaced by indirect stock ownership by financial institutions. We argue that tax and retirement policies are among the factors behind these changes. We develop empirical measures of two tax incentives of holding stocks inside tax-deferred plans, tax-free investment income and the smoothing benefit. Using long time-series from eight countries, we show that the fraction of household ownership decreases with these measures of the tax benefits. This finding contributes to policy debates on effective taxation and to financial economics research on the long-term effects of taxation on corporate finance and asset prices.     

The Performance Persistence of Closed-End Funds

The purpose of this study is to extend the research on mutual fund performance persistence to net asset value and market price performance of domestic closed‐end funds. While research has assessed the performance persistence of open‐end mutual funds, it has not assessed the performance persistence of closed‐end funds. Yet, the unique characteristics of closed‐end funds allow stronger arguments for their persistence than the arguments previously submitted for open‐end mutual funds. The results show evidence for risk‐adjusted performance persistence.     

Benchmarking Australian fixed interest fund performance: finding the optimal factors

In this paper, we analyse the performance of Australian fixed interest managed funds and assess multiple benchmarks through which such performance can be reliably measured. We examine the effectiveness of seven indices of bond performance, as well as factors impacting on fixed interest asset values and, hence, returns, including interest rate fluctuations, economic fundamentals, maturity risk, default risk and cross‐market influences. We test all combinations of factors in cross‐section and time series to find the optimum benchmark. The results, consistent across time, show that a correct combination of a fund‐based market variable, a mixture of interest rate factors and economic factors as well as a proxy for movements in the equity markets yield the optimal benchmark.     

Life-cycle funds: Much Ado about Nothing?

The core idea of life-cycle funds or target-date funds is to decrease the fund's equity exposure and conversely increase its bond exposure towards the fund's target date. Such funds have been gaining significant market share and were recently set as default choice of asset allocation in numerous defined contribution schemes or related old-age provision products in several countries. Hence, an assessment of life-cycle funds’ risk-return profiles – that is, the probability distribution of returns – is essential for sustainable financial planning of a large group of investors. This paper studies the risk-return profile of life-cycle funds in particular compared to simple balanced or lifestyle funds that apply a constant equity portion throughout the fund's term instead. In a Black–Scholes model, we derive balanced funds that reproduce the risk-return profile of an arbitrary life-cycle fund for single and regular contributions. We then analyze the accuracy of our results under more complex asset models with stochastic interest rates, stochastic equity volatility and jumps. We further show that frequently used ‘rule of thumb approximations’ that only take into account the life-cycle fund's average equity portion are not suitable to approximate a life-cycle fund's risk-return profile. Our results on the one hand facilitate sustainable financial planning and on the other hand challenge the very existence of life-cycle funds since appropriately calibrated balanced funds can offer a similar (often dominating) risk-return profile.     

中小企业集合年金计划研究

中国企业年金市场已初具规模,但中小企业的计划参与率仍很低。为扩大中小企业年金计划覆盖面,发达国家和地区大多建立起了集合年金计划。中小企业建立集合年金计划可以获得多方面优势,是我国中小企业的现实选择。当前我国金融机构通过不同的运营合作模式开始探索建立起各类集合年金计划,然而受中小企业自身特性的局限和我国企业年金体制中现存问题的制约,当前我国迫切需要进一步建立和完善中小企业集合年金计划。     

Why Does Performance Persistence Vary Among Closed-End Funds?

This study extends the research on closed-end fund performance persistence by investigating whether the persistence of both net asset value (NAV) and market price returns of U.S. registered closed-end funds is related to various fund characteristics. The sample consists of 505 closed-end funds, which are investigated over the period from January 1976 to December 1996. The analysis tests whether persistence is related to the fund characteristics size, goal, management fees, turnover, fund family membership, fund experience, and the exchange on which a fund is traded. The results vary across holding periods used to calculate persistence but are similar with respect to the NAV and market price returns. Funds with lower expense ratios and funds traded on the NYSE show more persistence of strong NAV and market price performance.     

How Informative Is Floating NAV When Securities Trade Infrequently?

We examine if a floating net asset value (NAV) increases the transparency of risk for investors. Using closed‐income fixed income funds we find little evidence that a floating NAV helps investors better understand the value and risk of a fund when a fund's assets trade infrequently. This potentially informs the debate regarding the adoption of a floating NAV in the money market industry. Our results suggest that it is unlikely that the benefits of floating NAV will outweigh the costs.     

克隆明星基金的收益与风险分析

本文在认可公募基金经理具有选股能力的基础上，对绩优的明星基金季报披露的重仓股按业绩筛选出股票，建立组合投资，对2005年二季度至2006年四季度期间的持有收益和风险进行验证。结论表明，在我国证券市场上克隆基金是一种可以给投资者带来较大收益的行之有效的战略手段。同时，本文认为，由此揭示出来的投资基金公开信息披露制度问题值得深入探讨。