We construct a broad dataset of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores for equity mutual funds based on the stocks they hold and stock-level scores from six prominent ESG data providers. We find that many ESG scores predict fund flows despite substantial disagreement among providers....

We find that hedge funds’ ETF option positions predict cross-sectional differences in the future volatility of underlying ETFs. The predictive power is strongest for straddle positions and non-equity ETFs. A tracking portfolio of straddles based on funds’ straddle positions earns quarterly...

Using Form PF filings over 2013–2017, we find that funds maintain higher levels of cash holdings and available borrowing (“liquidity buffers”) when they hold more illiquid assets, have shorter-term commitments from investors and creditors, and when market volatility is greater. We also...

Using the setting of funds of hedge funds (FoFs), we show that prime brokers (PBs) facilitate investors' search for informed hedge fund managers. We find that FoFs exhibit PB bias, a disproportionate preference for hedge funds serviced by their connected PBs. This PB bias is stronger when the...

We find that socially responsible investment (SRI) policies are more common among the endowments of universities that face greater stakeholder pressure to adopt such policies and depend more on donations to fund operations. SRI policies result in cumulative abnormal donations of 6% of endowment...

We find that capital flows to hedge funds in different countries are influenced by the strength and the enforcement of investor protection laws in these countries. Hedge funds that are located in weak investor protection countries exhibit a greater sensitivity of investor outflow to poor...

We measure a stock's exposure to fire sale risk through its ownership links to equity mutual funds that experience outflows during periods of systematic outflows from the fund industry. We find that more exposed stocks earn higher average returns: a portfolio that buys (shorts) stocks with the...