The Role of Market Sentiment in Asset Allocations and Stock Returns

Abstract

The authors investigate the role of mutual fund flows in incorporating market sentiment into asset prices. They show that retail investors adjust their investments among mutual fund categories in response to changes in market sentiment. Consistent with sentiment-induced price pressure through fund flows, they further find that firms favored by mutual funds, such as large-cap, dividend payers, and firms with high institutional ownership are sensitive to market sentiment. The authors construct a pricing factor representing sentiment risk and find that the sentiment factor is significant in standard asset pricing models and robust to various sorting procedure.     

Mutual fund separation in financial theory—The separating distributions

This paper finds necessary and sufficient conditions on the stochastic structure of asset returns for portfolio choice to be equivalent to choice among a limited number of mutual funds of assets, independent of investors' preferences. This type of separation result is central to modern financial theory and the distributions which satisfy these conditions, the separating distributions, form the underlying basis for much of this theory.     

Which is the best: A comparison of asset pricing factor models in Chinese mutual fund industry

Factor models are commonly used in estimating risk-adjusted fund performance. We compare the commonly used factor models in empirical asset pricing studies and find that Fama and French (2015) five-factor model outperforms other models in the Chinese mutual fund industry and in most fund segments. The factor models we tested are more effective in explaining the return of index funds than other types. Meanwhile, we also find that the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) better controls the estimated alpha dispersion than other models. Though most multifactor models including Carhart (1997) have higher R-squared than CAPM, the cross-sectional differences between them are not statistically significant.     

Risk aversion and portfolio allocation to mutual fund classes

The major factors affecting fund flows allocated to a range of mutual fund classes bearing different risk–return profiles are studied. The flexible functional form of the Almost Ideal Demand System (AIDS) is applied to identify the major drivers of Greek investors' demand patterns for equity, bond, balanced and money market funds, given the strong growth rates of the domestic fund market and the economy's latest entry into the EMU. An increase in household expenditure is shown to have a positive impact on mutual fund flows. An adverse price impact, however, may erode budget benefits towards a fund class, as the price factor appears to be important. The cross-price effects provide insight on complementarity and substitutability among the mutual fund classes. Variations in investors' risk aversion attitudes affect demand for mutual funds and can result in asset reallocation between the asset classes. The conclusions have useful policy implications particularly to asset fund management and portfolio allocation strategies and can be compared with established mutual fund markets.     

The effects of portfolio size on international equity home bias puzzle

This paper investigates a new explanation for the international equity home bias puzzle based on an endogenous asymmetric information model. Using a cross-sectional mutual fund data set, it is found that the degrees of home bias across fund managers are negatively correlated to the asset sizes under their management. This result is consistent with the theoretical prediction in the endogenous asymmetric information model—the portfolio managers with the larger assets tend to acquire more information regarding foreign equity and, hence, hold more foreign equity holdings.     

行为公设与资产定价理论

资产定价理论的核心是行为公设,行为公设是对人的行为的公理化概括,资产定价理论是行为公设在资产选择问题上的具体应用。资产定价理论的正确性在现实中经受检验,当资产定价理论被现实证明存在缺陷时,最终必然追溯到行为公设上。资产定价理论与行为公设之间存在着因果和反馈关系,行为公设为因,资产定价理论为果,同时资产定价理论对行为公设作出反馈。要消除资产定价理论对实际结果的偏离,最终必然落实到行为公设上,因此必须加强对行为公设的研究。     

企业年金基金管理费模型的优化选择

在分析现有模型基础上研究并设计适合企业年金的管理费优化模型,该模型更加注重基金资产的安全性,解决了目前企业年金基金管理中的风险不对等问题,基金管理人将更加注重企业年金追求本金安全及长期稳健增值的目标,使企业年金资产的安全性得到较大保障,该模型亦可推广到所有追求长期安全增值以绝对收益为目标的基金使用。     

委托代理制下基金经理人的信息优势与绩效——基于中国台湾地区的实证研究

在共同基金产业快速成长条件下,基金经理人能否取得良好绩效成为一个重要的研究课题。本文以公开信息依赖程度来探讨委托代理制下基金经理人是否具有私有信息优势,并因而获利。研究结果是：第一,公开信息依赖度可以正向解释定价误差,显示公开信息依赖度可作为情绪指标;第二,高公开信息依赖度会伴随高报酬,亦即低公开信息依赖度（高情绪）会预测长期的负报酬率;第三,公开信息依赖度低是由于基金经理人利用投资人情绪而短期获利所致;第四,不同公开信息依赖度情况下,投资人对于高风险的股票会给予不同的评价;第五,利用公开信息依赖度敏感度来建立投资组合,可以有效增加投资人的投资绩效。     

行为资产定价理论综述

如何刻画投资者行为是资产定价理论 50年来发展的主要脉络。在消费资本资产定价模型基础上 ,通过修正投资者的效用函数而发展起来的行为资产定价理论 ,对投资者行为的认识达到了新的高度。本文构造了行为资产定价的一般均衡研究框架 ,指出了此框架与行为金融理论的区别 ,并在此框架下 ,综述了当前流行的行为资产定价模型。文章最后分析了行为资产定价理论的下一步发展方向。     

A general model of customer-class pricing

A theory of utility customer-class pricing is developed, and a firm's pricing incentives under various objectives are derived. Rate of return regulation is shown to motivate non-optimal prices in an output counterpart to the Averch-Johnson effect.     

Cumulant instrument estimators for hedge fund return models with errors in variables

We revisit the factors incorporated in asset pricing models following the recent developments in financial markets – i.e., the rise of shadow banking and the change in the transmission channel of monetary policy. We propose two versions of the Fung and Hsieh (2004) hedge fund return model, especially an augmented market model which accounts for the new dynamics of financial markets and the procyclicality of hedge fund returns. We run these models with an innovative Hausman procedure, tackling the measurement errors embedded in the models factor loadings. Our empirical method also allows for confronting the drawbacks of the instruments used to estimate hedge fund asset pricing models.     

异质信念资产定价研究

从随机游走、行为金融到混沌,从现代资产定价理论、行为资产定价理论到异质信念资产定价理论,3种学说和3种定价理论同时存在干当今资本市场的研究中,它们分别从不同方面、不同视角解释了资产价格的波动。本文的研究理清了3种重要定价理论之间的关系：理性与有限理性,线性与非线性,价格波动的外在机制与内在机制,为人们进一步研究资产定价理论提供了清晰的脉络。     

Individual autonomy in evolutionary game theory: defending Sugden against Ross’s accusation of eliminativism

In this paper, I provide a defence of Robert Sugden’s contribution to evolutionary game theory against Donald Ross’s accusation of eliminating the individual’s autonomy by denying the explanatory role of rationality, utility maximization and rational beliefs. In this regard, I claim that Sugden’s methodological remarks on evolutionary game theory do not imply a characterization of real agents as automata. On the methodological level, Sugden claims that it is not correct to conceive the empirical phenomenon of social evolution in terms of normative concepts, whose empirical status is not obvious. However, Sugden proposes a theory that explains the agent’s behaviour in terms of inductive reasoning, adaptive beliefs, salience and pattern recognition. The latter are psychological features that describe the way agents manage to self-determine their own actions. From these clarifications, I draw the conclusion that Ross’s critique misunderstands Sugden’s contribution both on the methodological and empirical level.     

私募基金的管理规模与最优激励契约

私募基金是一种新兴的资产管理模式,其本质上也是一种委托代理契约。本文利用Tirole(2006)的公司融资分析框架和思想,研究了私募基金管理者与基金外部投资人的委托代理关系,求解出私募基金的最优管理规模和分成比例,并用数值计算方法对理论结果进行了讨论。理论模型和数值计算表明:私募基金的最优管理规模和分成比例是存在的;只有在某些特定的参数组合下,现实中广泛使用的"2—20"合同才具有某种合理性,且并非最优;业绩表现费有助于降低私募基金管理者的道德风险。     

The long-run and short-run demand for money: Additional evidence

This paper presents estimates of Chow's money-demand equations using Chow's data. The equations are adjusted for autocorrelation using two autocorrelation transformations, the standard Cochrane-Orcutt transformation that deletes “initial” observations, and one that does not delete these observations. The estimates focus on the question of the asset versus the transactions specifications. The results reaffirm Chow's original conclusion which supported the asset motive and, thereby, reversed nearly all of the findings recently reported by Lieberman (1980). The paper concludes that one should be wary about using the Cochrane-Orcutt transformation, especially when the ratio of the number of deleted observations to total observations is large.     

Taxation and the stock market valuation of capital gains and dividends: Theory and emphirical results

Dividends seem to be more heavily taxed than capital gains. Why then do corporations pay dividends rather than repurchasing shares or retaining earnings? Either corporations are not acting in the interests of shareholders, or else shareholders desire dividends sufficiently for nontax reasons to offset the tax effect.In this paper, we measure the relative valuation of dividends and capital gains in the stock market, using a variant of the capital asset pricing model. We find that dividends are not valued differently systematically from capital gains. This finding is consistent with share price maximization by firms but inconsistent with the fact that most shareholderspay a heavier tax on dividends.We also show that the relative value of dividends provides an indirect measure of a marginal Tobin's q. The measured value of dividends relative to capital gains tends to be higher during prosperous periods, as is consistent with this interpretation. We hope that this time series on a marginal Tobin's q will prove to be useful in forecasting the rate of investment.     

对我国共同基金监督机制的法学反思——澳大利亚修法的启示

我国信托型共同基金的内在结构决定了资产保管人与基金管理人之间必然存在着职权运用上的张力与冲突,任何试图让二者协调运达致和谐与平衡的做法都只是空想。通过澳大利亚修法的视角再次证明,在信托体制下,资产保管人与基金管理人之间权力配置的矛盾深深地内生于信托制度之中,根本无法彻底根除。鉴于此,适时引入公司型共同基金,成为遏制基金丑闻并推动我国基金业稳健发展的重要举措。     

Attribution of hedge fund returns using a Kalman filter

Hedge funds offer attractive investment possibilities because they engage in investment styles and opportunity sets which – because they are different from traditional asset class funds – generate different risk exposures. Conventional wisdom holds that hedge funds add value and provide unique investment opportunities because of their ability to invest in disparate risk exposures, and via the manager’s skill in selecting stocks and timing the market. In this article, a Kalman filter is used to decompose the time series of hedge fund returns into market timing and stock selection factors to establish whether fund managers really do generate statistically significant abnormal profits. Compelling evidence supports an alternative interpretation for the market timing return constituent. This work represents the first time the Kalman filter has been used to extract a time series of the capital asset pricing model’s dynamic variables for determining return component magnitudes.     

中国居民消费、习惯偏好与资产收益研究

习惯模型是行为资产定价理论的重要组成部分,该模型将经济主体的习惯因素纳入到资产定价之中,由此推进了消费资本资产定价理论的发展。习惯模型已经在欧美等国家和地区得到了广泛研究,而在资本市场蓬勃发展的中国则处于被人遗忘的尴尬境地。本文利用外在习惯偏好模型对我国居民消费、习惯偏好与资产收益进行分析。GMM结果是混合性的,模型可以较好地拟合数据,GMM结果无法否定外在习惯偏好模型,因而无法否定习惯因素在消费与资产收益分析中的重要性。     

Dynamic stability in a model of dual exchange rates

The dynamic stability of a small open economy operating under a regime of dual exchange rates is shown to depend on residents' net foreign asset position. This result is in contrast to the economy's dynamic behavior under unified fixed-rate and flexible-rate regimes where stability is unrelated to net foreign asset position.