Mutual Fund Flow Scale : A Multi-Item Scale For Measuring Perception of Mutual Fund Investors

With an ever-increasing amount of information related to the stock market or various investment avenues, misperception or no perception regarding mutual funds is becoming a norm for investors and marketers. To date no perception measuring scale has been developed for mutual fund investors, to assist investors, marketers, and promoters to focus on the most crucial factors for mutual fund market application. This paper discovers the dimensions of investor perception and its relevance for investment practitioners. A five-factor conceptual model of mutual fund flow is developed, operationalised and validated, using a sample of 3,738 investors. Using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis techniques, results of this study support all the five dimensions of risk, return, fund characteristics, fund manager, and fund family, and confirms that they have a significant impact on investor perception regarding mutual fund investment decision. This work makes an equivalent influence on academic, as well as practical, domains