We conduct a volatility decomposition to identify the source of performance differences between low volatility and high volatility mutual funds. Higher return covariances between fund holdings is associated with more fund-level exposure to the idiosyncratic volatility effect. The average...

Open-end mutual funds allow purchases and redemptions of shares daily at the closing net asset value. This practice imposes costs upon the mutual fund for portfolio adjustments and maintaining cash balances to handle inflows and redemptions. The cost of providing liquidity falls...

Open-end mutual funds allow purchases and redemptions of shares daily at the closing net asset value. This practice imposes costs upon the mutual fund for portfolio adjustments and maintaining cash balances to handle inflows and redemptions. The cost of providing liquidity falls...

We examine how investment advisors guide the decision-making process of mutual fund investors by comparing the flow-performance sensitivity of no-load funds and the three main classes of load fund shares, conditional on the state of the market. We show that load investors are more sensitive to...