Impact of reporting delays on profitability of front-running strategies against mutual funds

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (9) ◽  
pp. 999-1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sitikantha Parida
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Front Running ◽  
Reporting Delays ◽  
Public Disclosures ◽  
Reporting Delay ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Illiquid Assets

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate if there is any impact of reporting delays on profitability of front-running strategies against the mutual funds. Design/methodology/approach The author studies if freshness of mutual fund holding information from public disclosures affects precision of flow-based front-running strategies against the funds and if the allowed 60-day reporting delay is able to protect the funds from these front-running activities against them. Findings Assuming no reporting delay, the author finds that returns from hypothetical front-running strategies are significant, when these are based on the most recent holding information and are not significant, when based on relatively old holding information. Interestingly, these front-running returns appear to be mostly driven by anticipated forced buys by the mutual funds (rather than anticipated forced sales). The return from a front-running strategy long on anticipated forced buys is higher when it is based on relatively illiquid assets. The author also finds that return from a front-running strategy short on anticipated forced sales is significant, when it is based on illiquid assets from relatively old holding information. Practical implications Hence, it appears that the allowed 60-day reporting delay is able to protect most of the funds from front-running activities against them, except for the funds holding illiquid assets from anticipated forced sales motivated front-running activities against them. Originality/value The paper addresses an interesting question, which has not been studied before – if freshness of fund holding information helps the front-running strategies against the funds and if the allowed reporting delay is effective in protecting the funds from these activities.

FINRA fines broker-dealer for failing to apply Class A sales charge waivers for certain eligible customers on its mutual fund platform

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-56
Author(s):  
Richard F. Kerr
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supervisory System ◽  
Enforcement Action ◽  
Class A

Purpose – To review FINRA enforcement action taken against a broker-dealer over failure to waive mutual fund sales charges for certain eligible customers and failure to establish, maintain, and enforce a supervisory system and written procedures reasonably designed to ensure eligible accounts received sales charge waivers as set forth in the mutual funds’ prospectuses. Design/methodology/approach – Reviews and summarizes FINRA’s finding’s regarding the broker-dealer’s failure to apply applicable mutual fund sales charge waivers, deficiencies in the broker-dealer’s supervisory system and written procedures resulting in the failure, resulting violations of FINRA rules, the broker-dealer’s remedial efforts, and the sanctions imposed. Findings – This settlement provides an important reminder for FINRA member broker-dealers of the need to ensure that eligible investors receive applicable sales charger waivers or are placed in the appropriate share class, and to establish, maintain, and enforce a supervisory system and written procedures reasonably designed to ensure eligible accounts received sales charge waivers as set forth in the mutual funds’ prospectuses. Originality/value – Practical explanation from experienced financial institutions lawyers.

Profit-sharing investment accounts in islamic banks or mutualization, accounting perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wasim K. AlShattarat ◽  
Muhannad A. Atmeh
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Profit Sharing ◽  
Islamic Banks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Implementation Challenges ◽  
Total Profit ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Islamic banks use Mudarabah contract to replace the interest-bearing deposits with profit-sharing investment accounts. The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges and problems associated with the employment of Mudarabah contract by Islamic banks. Design/methodology/approach The study critically analyzes the Mudarabah contract used by Islamic banks. It reviews the evolution of the contract from its traditional type to more complicated types such as compound, unrestricted, commingled and continuous Mudarabah. The paper investigates the problems that have emerged from implementing such types in current business settings. Findings The paper proves that implementing the Mudarabah contract by banks imposes several problems among which are the following: difficulty in the determination of total profit resulting from Mudarabah and in allocating this profit to the multiple parties involved in Mudarabah; usage of reserves to cater against future losses may undermine the concept of Mudarabah profit-loss sharing and lead to earnings management; corporate governance is also a major problem in Mudarabah contract, as the depositors are exposed to risks but have no governance rights; and Mudarabah may also lessen the fair presentation of financial reporting. Research limitations/implications The paper examines the evolving Mudarabah contract and its implementation challenges, based on available literature (no empirical analysis was conducted). Practical implications The implications are significant for the future development of Islamic contracts and Islamic accounting treatments. Originality/value Many studies explored the Mudarabah contract from a Shariah or law perspective. However, this paper investigates the Mudarabah contract with a focus on the implication on accounting and financial reporting because of the lack of studies in this area. Furthermore, it demonstrates the persistent flaws in the Mudarabah contract, and it proposes a new model for mobilizing funds, i.e. mutual fund.

Mutual fund alpha and daily market-timing ability

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 662-681
Author(s):  
Qiang Bu
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Market Timing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Market Return ◽  
Timing Ability

Purpose This study aims to examine whether mutual funds can earn daily alpha and time daily market return. Design/methodology/approach Based on the Treynor and Mazuy (1966) model and the Henriksson and Merton (1981) model, the author tests the daily market-timing ability of actual mutual funds and bootstrapped mutual funds. Findings The author finds that daily alpha and daily market-timing ability can come from pure luck. In addition, the relation between fund alpha and market-timing ability is at best minimal. Originality/value Using bootstrapped funds as the benchmark, this study shows that daily fund market is overall efficient.

Impact of competition on fund disclosures and consumer search costs

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-220
Author(s):  
Sitikantha Parida
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Market Competition ◽  
Search Costs ◽  
Consumer Search ◽  
Relative Performance ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Illiquid Assets

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of competition in financial markets on the frequency of portfolio disclosures by mutual funds and its implications for consumer search costs. Design/methodology/approach The empirical analysis merges the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) survivorship bias-free mutual fund database, the Thompson Financial CDA/ Spectrum holdings database and the CRSP stock price data. The sample covers the time period between 1993 and 2010 and OLS and logistic regressions are used to investigate the impact of competition on fund disclosures. Findings This paper finds that mutual fund disclosures decrease with market competition and this effect is amplified for funds holding illiquid assets. These results provide empirical support for the findings of Carlin et al. (2102). Mutual funds use portfolio disclosures as a marketing tool to attract investments in a tournament-like market, where superior relative performance and greater visibility are rewarded with convex payoffs. With competition, the likelihood of receiving new investments decreases for each fund and funds respond by reducing costly voluntary disclosures. The disclosure costs are higher for funds holding illiquid assets, and hence, the effect is stronger for them. Originality/value This paper has important policy implications for disclosures in a market where relative performance matters. The traditional view is that competition induces voluntary disclosure because entities would like to differentiate themselves from competitors, and hence, competition should increase market transparency. However, this paper sheds light on the negative consequence of competition in a tournament-like mutual fund market.

Accounting outsourcing and audit lag

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 276-294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles P. Cullinan ◽  
Xiaochuan Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Service Provider ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Closed End Funds ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Risk Reducing ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Consistent Measurement

Purpose This paper examines the relationship between accounting outsourcing and audit lag. Accounting outsourcing may reduce misstatement risk, reducing the amount of audit effort necessary and thereby decrease audit lag. Alternatively, outsourcing may increase the amount of coordination necessary between the auditor, client management and the outside accounting service provider and thereby increase audit lag. Design/methodology/approach The accounting outsourcing/audit lag relationship is examined among closed-end mutual funds. These funds often outsource their accounting functions and disclose the names and services provided by any company providing services to the fund. These disclosures permit a consistent measurement of whether the fund outsources their accounting functions or performs them in-house. Findings This paper finds a positive relationship between accounting outsourcing and audit lag; outsourcing funds have audit lags that are two to three days longer than those not outsourcing their accounting. The results are robust to different specifications, controls for the distinctive characteristics of closed-end funds and consideration of endogeneity. Practical implications Closed-end funds could consider the increased time necessary to complete the audit when deciding whether to outsource their accounting functions. Originality/value By identifying a unique setting in which outsourcing data can be consistently obtained and analyzed (i.e. closed-end funds), this is the first study to empirically evaluate the relationship between accounting outsourcing and audit lag.

Director of SEC’s Division of Investment Management discusses alternative mutual funds

2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 15-18
Author(s):  
Richard F. Kerr
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Investment Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fund Industry ◽  
Mutual Fund Industry ◽  
Alternative Investment

Purpose – To alert participants in the mutual fund industry to regulatory developments in the alternative mutual fund space as articulated by the SEC’s Director of the Division of Investment Management. Design/methodology/approach – Reviews the Director’s discussion of the SEC’s concerns related to Valuation, Liquidity, Leverage and Disclosure resulting from the proliferation of alternative mutual funds. Additionally, summarizes the Director’s comments regarding Board oversight of alternative mutual funds. Findings – While the Director’s speech does not establish any new law or regulation, it is a practical summary of the SEC’s expectations for mutual fund complexes when implementing and operating mutual funds with alternative investment strategies that have historically been the province of private funds. Originality/value – Practical explanation from experienced financial institutions lawyers.

Do mutual fund ratings provide valuable information for retail investors?

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Oehler ◽  
Andreas Höfer ◽  
Matthias Horn ◽  
Stefan Wendt
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Monthly Basis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Rating Agencies ◽  
Dynamic Investment ◽  
Retail Investors ◽  
Rating Changes

Purpose Retail investors use information provided by mutual fund rating agencies to make investment decisions. This paper aims to examine whether the ratings provide useful information to retail investors by analyzing the rating migration and closure risk of mutual funds that received Morningstar’s mutual fund ratings from 2005 to 2012. Design/methodology/approach The research design differentiates between buy-and-hold investment strategies and dynamic investment strategies. To assess the information content of mutual fund ratings for buy-and-hold investment strategies, the rating migration based on the first and the last mutual fund rating during two-, four-, six- and eight-year horizons is determined. With respect to dynamic investment strategies, the number of rating changes per fund on a monthly basis during these time horizons is calculated. Findings Mutual fund rating persistence is low or even inexistent, in particular, during longer time periods. Only for lower-rated funds, the rating appears to indicate higher risk of fund closure. In addition, mutual funds face a large number of up to 38 monthly rating changes in the eight-year window. Originality/value Mutual fund rating persistence has hardly been analyzed for funds offered to retail investors so far. This paper clearly points out that because of the extensive rating migration and the high number of monthly rating changes, retail investors barely benefit from using mutual fund ratings.

SEC publishes guidance on mutual fund distribution and sub-accounting fees

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Adelfio ◽  
Paul J. Delligatti ◽  
Jason F. Monfort
Keyword(s):  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Mutual Fund ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Investment Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Enforcement Action ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Practical Guidance ◽  
Investment Advisers

Purpose To explain the guidance published on January 6, 2016 by the SEC’s Division of Investment Management containing its views and recommendations relating to mutual fund distribution and sub-accounting fees. Design/methodology/approach Explains the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations focus on “distribution in guise” payments, its 2013 “sweep exam,” an enforcement action against a fund’s adviser and affiliated distributor related to payments for distribution-related activities outside of a 12b-1 plan, lists SEC staff recommendations with respect to mutual fund distribution and sub-accounting fees, summarizes the SEC’s guidance on board oversight of sub-accounting fees, provides indicia that a payment may be for distribution-related activities, and points to the need for mutual funds to have policies and procedures designed to prevent violations of Section 12(b) and Rule 12b-1. Findings The guidance is an outgrowth of the staff’s observations from a three-year “distribution in guise” sweep exam of mutual fund complexes, investment advisers, broker-dealers and transfer agents conducted by the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations and other offices and divisions of the SEC to identify whether firms were using fund assets to directly or indirectly finance any activities primarily intended to result in the sale of fund shares outside of an approved Rule 12b-1 distribution plan. Originality/value Practical guidance from experienced financial services lawyers.

Consumer value creation through WhatsApp use

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-471
Author(s):  
Jorge Cruz-Cárdenas ◽  
Jorge Guadalupe-Lanas ◽  
Ekaterina Zabelina ◽  
Andrés Palacio-Fierro ◽  
Margarita Velín-Fárez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Role Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumer Value ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand in-depth how consumers create value in their lives using WhatsApp, the leading mobile instant messaging (MIM) application. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts the perspective of customer-dominant logic (CDL) and uses a qualitative multimethod design involving 3 focus groups and 25 subsequent in-depth interviews. The research setting was Ecuador, a Latin American country. Findings Analysis and interpretation of the participants’ stories made it possible to identify and understand the creation of four types of value: maintaining and strengthening relationships; improving role performance; emotional support; and entertainment and fun. In addition, the present study proposes a conceptual model of consumer value creation as it applies to MIM. Practical implications Understanding the way consumers create value in their lives using MIM is important not only for organizations that offer MIM applications, but also for those companies that develop other applications for mobile phones or for those who wish to use MIM as an electronic word-of-mouth vehicle. Originality/value The current study is one of the first to address the topic of consumer behavior in the use of technologies from the perspective of CDL; this perspective enables an integrated qualitative vision of value creation in which the consumer is the protagonist.

scholarly journals Advantages and potential challenges of data management in e-maintenance

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Razmi-Farooji ◽  
Hanna Kropsu-Vehkaperä ◽  
Janne Härkönen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo
Keyword(s):  
Data Management ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Maintenance Systems ◽  
Industry Leader ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to understand data management challenges in e-maintenance systems from a holistically viewpoint through summarizing the earlier scattered research in the field, and second, to present a conceptual approach for addressing these challenges in practice. Design/methodology/approach The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader in manufacturing and maintenance services. Findings This research provides a general understanding over data management challenges in e-maintenance and summarizes their associated proposed solutions. In addition, this paper lists and exemplifies different types and sources of data which can be collected in e-maintenance, across different organizational levels. Analyzing the data management practices of an e-maintenance industry leader provides a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice. Research limitations/implications Since this paper is based on studying the practices of a single company, it might be limited to generalize the results. Future research topics can focus on each of mentioned data management challenges and also validate the applicability of presented model in other companies and industries. Practical implications Understanding the e-maintenance-related challenges helps maintenance managers and other involved stakeholders in e-maintenance systems to better solve the challenges. Originality/value The so-far literature on e-maintenance has been studied with narrow focus to data and data management in e-maintenance appears as one of the less studied topics in the literature. This research paper contributes to e-maintenance by highlighting the deficiencies of the discussion surrounding the perspectives of data management in e-maintenance by studying all common data management challenges and listing different types of data which need to be acquired in e-maintenance systems.

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