This paper measures the extent of uncertainty in mutual fund communication and its effects on fund flows. I test the hypothesis that mutual funds communicating more about uncertainty might avoid large outflows. Investors appear to react to this form of communication, as the use of uncertain...

We use a unique and comprehensive data set on open-end real estate funds in Germany to study a liquidity crisis that hit this industry between 2005 and 2006. Since this industry is comparably unregulated our data set permits us to contrast competing explanations of liquidity crisis. We find that...

Mutual funds are mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to disclose information on their investment objectives and risks. In this paper, we study the informational value of U.S. mutual funds' qualitative disclosures by analyzing the content of funds' prospectuses. First, we...

Using hedge fund returns and county-level religiosity data during 1996-2013, we examine the effects of local religious beliefs on hedge fund risk-taking behaviors. We find that local religiosity is significantly negatively related to both total and idiosyncratic volatilities of hedge funds, even...

This paper studies the relationship between mutual fund manager investment horizons and managerial risk-taking decisions. I find that in general mutual funds reporting longer maximum evaluation horizons have lower risk levels. The low risk levels helped these funds mitigate their losses in the...

It is well established that international portfolios are far substantially under-diversified, contrary to predictions of traditional finance theory. Even after controlling for market segmentation and “investability” of foreign markets, portfolio under-diversification remains a puzzle. I...

Using data from surveys as well as as real transactions we analyze which and why investors choose funds with performance fees even though these funds may be more expensive. According to agency theory, performance fees could incentivize managers to achieve better returns, but they could also...

This study has 4 contributions to the literature. First, the authors analyze the risk characteristics for 11 Relative Value hedge fund strategies. Second, the authors introduce 3 families of behavioral factors, the D family, the L family, and the R family. In contrast to previous hedge fund...

This paper presents a novel take on the effect of uncertainty on investor learning about managerial skills by examining the fund flow-performance relationship in ESG rated funds in the context of climate uncertainty. Utilizing a large sample of mutual funds domiciled in Australia and New Zealand...

Preqin and Pitchbook data are classified and analyzed to derive a coherent set of risk-return assumptions to combine with Listed liquid assets in a traditional mean-variance framework. We find expected returns of 11%-12% for PE and 8% for PD, PC detailed per subclass. Risk is decomposed in Class...