Information Costs and Mutual Fund Flows

This paper examines how investor and capital flows into mutual funds in the Swedish pension system are related to fund characteristics. Similarly to U.S. studies, we show that individuals chase past returns and have a strong preference for lower-fee funds. However, our results suggest that past returns are less important than previous studies suggest. A more important determinant of fund inflows is information costs. For instance, foreign-based funds with a track record similar to that of domestic funds attract fewer investors and receive less capital. Moreover, new funds without a track record also receive lower inflows.