Using data from the Stockholm Stock Exchange we study the value added by (as distinct from the abnormal returns to) analysts' recommendations. Recommending brokers' clients trade profitably around positive recommendations at the expense of other brokers' clients. Significant profits come from...

Investment consultants market their services by claiming that their fund manager recommendations add significant value. Using detailed data from the leading investment consultants we find no such evidence. An analysis of consultants' disclosures reveals a number of practices that explain their...

Individuals increasingly buy mutual funds via on-line platforms, whose ‘best buy' recommendations heavily influence flows. As intermediaries of mutual funds, platforms provide none of the unobservable interaction or intangible benefits of brokers, and so allow clean tests of the determinants,...

Investment consultants advise institutional investors on their choice of fund manager. Focusing on U.S. actively managed equity funds, we analyze the factors that drive consultants' recommendations, what impact these recommendations have on flows, and how well the recommended funds perform. We...

Using survey data we analyze institutional investors' expectations about the future performance of fund managers and the impact of those expectations on asset allocation decisions. We find that institutional investors allocate funds mainly on the basis of fund managers' past performance and of...