Cosmetic mergers: The effect of style investing on the market for corporate control

We study the impact of “style investing” on the market for corporate control. We argue that the choice of the bidder is influenced by the fact that the merge with a firm that belongs to an investment style more popular with the market may boost the bidder's value. By using data on the flows in mutual funds, we construct a measure of popularity, which relies directly on the identification of sentiment-induced investor demand, rather than being a direct transformation of stock market data. We show that differences in popularity between bidder and target help to explain their pairing. The merger with a more popular target generates a halo effect from the target to the bidder that induces the market to evaluate the assets of the less popular bidder at the (inflated) market value of the more popular target. Both bidder and target premiums are positively related to the difference in popularity between the target and the bidder. However, the target's ability to appropriate the gain is reduced by the fact that its bargaining position is weaker when the bidder's potential for asset appreciation is higher. We document a better short- and medium-term performance of less popular firms taking over more popular firms. The bidder managers engaging in these cosmetic mergers take advantage of the window of opportunity induced by the deal to reduce their stake in the firm under convenient conditions.     

The price of ethics and stakeholder governance: The performance of socially responsible mutual funds

Do investors pay a price for investing in socially responsible investments (SRI) funds, or do they obtain superior returns? This paper investigates these under- and overperformance hypotheses for all SRI funds across the world. Consistent with investors paying a price for ethics, SRI funds in the US, the UK, and in many continental European and Asia-Pacific countries underperform their domestic benchmarks by − 2.2% to − 6.5%. However, with the exception of some countries such as France, Japan and Sweden, the risk-adjusted returns of SRI funds are not statistically different from the performance of conventional funds. We also find that the underperformance of SRI funds is not driven by loadings on an ethics style factor. There is mixed evidence of a smart money effect: SRI investors are unable to identify the funds that will outperform in the future, whereas they show some fund-selection ability in identifying funds that will perform poorly. Finally, corporate governance and social screens yield lower risk-adjusted returns.     

Seasonal Patterns in Money Market Mutual Funds

This study analyzes seasonal patterns in tax-exempt and taxable money market mutual fund yields. We document a significant increase in tax-exempt and taxable yields during the last three weeks of December, followed by a significant decrease in yields during the first three weeks of January. The yield changes are associated with a corresponding outflow of fund assets at the end of the year and inflow of assets in the beginning of the year. We also find that tax-exempt yields change systematically around the 15th of April, June and September, which are key individual income tax dates. These results are consistent with liquidity effects associated with year-end wages, dividends, and bonus payments and tax-effects. We also find that institution window dressing contributes to the year-end movements in taxable and tax-exempt fund yields. One implication is that municipalities planning to issue short-term notes and investors in these funds can time their actions to take advantage of these systematic yield changes.     

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。     

基金投资风格漂移及其对基金绩效的影响研究

本文选取一轮完整行情为研究期间，并将其划分为牛市和熊市两个子期间，采用Sharp（1992）提出的基于收益率的投资风格分析法确定基金在两个子期间的实际投资风格，将动态的实际投资风格和宣称的投资风格进行比较，对整个研究期问的“风格漂移”现象进行了研究。在此基础上，考察了“风格漂移”对整个研究期问基金绩效的影响。研究发现，发生明显“风格漂移”的基金绩效要优于未明显发生“风格漂移”基金的绩效。     

国外养老基金投资规则与绩效的比较

由于政治和人口老龄化对传统的现收现付体制带来的财政压力，养老基金制度改革已经成为一个全球性课题。在一些国家，由于对部分或全部基金型养老基金投资限制的改革，不仅使养老基金行业受益，而且对资本市场发展也产生了积极的影响。本文通过对不同投资监管制度下养老基金投资绩效差异和对资本市场不同影响的分析，探讨中国养老基金投资监管制度的改革方向和政策选择。     

证券投资基金投资组合与投资策略的匹配性研究

对证券投资基金行为选择的研究，一直是金融经济学关注的焦点问题之一。本文对我国证券投资基金投资组合的构建和调整与其投资策略的匹配性问题进行了研究，发现绝大部分证券投资基金存在实际投资所承担的风险远远偏离其投资策略所表明的风险偏好类型。同时，由于市场环境的变化，无论是风险偏好型还是风险中性的基金，在实际投资中大多转型成了风险规避型基金。     

Performance implications of active management of institutional mutual funds

We use information on institutional US mutual funds to examine the performance implications of the decisions they make when actively implementing their investment processes. Our findings show that the success of active fund managers' stock selection decisions is influenced both by the aggressiveness with which they implement their processes and also the style tilts incorporated into their active positions. Our findings provide useful insights into both where one might best look when choosing an active manager and also suggest possible profitable investment strategies.     

养老基金的社会责任投资

社会责任投资(SR I)作为一种全新的投资理念,将社会、环境、人权等因素纳入融资标准。在倡导可持续性发展的今天,面对金融市场的种种不确定性因素,将这一理念引入到养老基金的投资决策中,无论从理论或实践的角度,都具有深远意义。本文从基本概念入手,考察了社会责任投资的发展轨迹,并从理论角度对其先进性和有效性进行探讨,进而分析了将SR I引入到养老基金投资中的可行性,最后结合国际经验和我国现实,提出了中国养老基金社会责任投资的政策建议。     

Socially responsible investment fund performance: the impact of screening intensity

Perhaps the most common criticism of socially responsible investment funds is that imposing non‐financial screens restricts investment opportunities, reduces diversification efficiencies and thereby adversely impacts performance. In this study we investigate this proposition and test whether the number of screens employed has a linear or curvilinear relation with return. Moreover, we analyse the link between screening intensity and risk. Screening intensity has no effect on unadjusted (raw) returns or idiosyncratic risk. However, we find a significant reduction in α of 70 basis points per screen using the Carhart performance model. Increased screening results in lower systematic risk – in line with managers choosing lower β stocks to minimize overall risk.     

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.     

Fed funds futures variance futures

We develop a novel contract design, the fed funds futures (FFF) variance futures, which reflects the expected realized basis point variance of an underlying FFF rate. The valuation of short-term FFF variance futures is completely model-independent in a general setting that includes the cases where the underlying FFF rate exhibits jumps and where the realized variance is computed by sampling the FFF rate discretely. The valuation of longer-term FFF variance futures is subject to an approximation error which we quantify and show is negligible. We also provide an illustrative example of the practical valuation and use of the FFF variance futures contract.     

基金抱团对我国上市公司投资效率的影响

基于委托代理理论,运用社会网络分析方法,依据2007-2018年我国A股上市公司数据和公募基金数据,探究公募基金抱团行为对我国上市公司投资效率的影响。结果表明：基金抱团行为对上市公司投资效率产生了消极影响,盈余管理具有中介作用;与国有企业相比较,基金抱团对非国有企业投资效率的影响力更大。鉴于此,应强化对基金团体交互行为的识别和监管,从而发挥基金团体的外部治理作用,促进企业投资效率的提高。     

业绩排名、投资者选择和投资基金行为

本文利用中国开放式基金数据，对基金业绩与未来资金流入的关系及投资基金之间的“竞赛假说”进行了检验。结果发现，基金业绩与未来资金流入存在显著的正相关关系。整体而言，中国投资基金行业不存在“竞赛假说”，但投资基金在年末业绩排名竞争中存在显著的竞赛特征，投资基金在年中排名竞争方面则未表现出明显的竞赛特征。     

制度环境、政治关系与会计信息质量——来自中国民营上市公司的检验

文章以2007～2009年中国613家民营上市公司为样本,考察了制度环境、政治关系与企业会计信息质量三者的相互关系。研究发现:政治关系显著影响我国民营上市公司会计信息质量,有政治关系的民营上市公司会计信息质量显著低于无政治关系的民营上市公司,且这种影响存在显著的地域差异,中西部地区有政治关系的民营上市公司会计信息质量显著低于无政治关系公司,但东部地区民营上市公司政治关系对会计信息质量的影响并不显著,究其根源是因为我国不同地区存在显著的制度差异,制度环境能有效削弱政治关系对民营上市公司会计信息质量的影响。     

用好保险资金 促内需保增长

只有用好保险资金,才能从根本上保障被保险人的利益,并有利于促进经济平稳较快发展。用好保险资金应坚持四个基本原则:效益原则、效率原则、多元化原则和风险可控原则。同时,还必须突出重点领域,重视并认真处理好以下几个选择:正确认识并处理好实体经济和虚拟经济的份额选择,重点投资实体经济;正确认识并处理好投资国内市场与投资国际市场的份额选择,重点投资国内市场;正确认识并处理好现阶段保险资金投资国内实体经济领域的选择,重点投资反周期、跨周期项目。