We find that active mutual funds owning product market competitors have superior risk-adjusted returns that are not driven by industry concentration, common selection, or stock picking ability. These funds charge higher fees but also generate persistent net-of-fee returns for investors. Funds...

The value premium is well established in empirical asset pricing, but to date there is little understanding as to its fundamental drivers. We use a stochastic earnings valuation model to establish a direct link between the volatility of future earnings growth and firm value. We illustrate that...

We provide theory and evidence to complement Choi's [RFS, 2013] important new insights on the returns to equity in 'value' firms. We show that higher future earnings growth ameliorates the value-reducing effect of leverage and, because the market for earnings is incomplete, reduces the...