Why do Fund Managers Increase the Lottery-Like Characteristics of the Fund?

We investigate why fund managers invest in lottery-like stocks and whether the behavior that holds more lottery-like stocks affects performance. First, mutual funds that hold more lottery stocks may attract more fund flows. Our results support the theory that fund managers invest more in lottery-like stocks to reflect investors' preferences for extreme payoffs. Second, the level of lottery-like characteristics of mutual funds does not predict managers’ skill and performance. Therefore, fund managers holding more lottery stocks is not a result of managers’ skills. Third, lottery-like characteristics of mutual funds do not significantly affect performance in specific reporting periods (e.g., year-end or quarter-end). Based on this result, we conclude that fund managers do not invest more in lottery stocks to advance their career.

Evolutionary Game Analysis of the Partners’ Behavior in the Rural E-Payment Market of China

The rural e-payment market in China is becoming one of the important topics in the research field because of its contribution to the efficiency of fund flows in the economy. Further development of the rural e-payment market mainly depends on its partners’ acceptance. In March 2020, 776.08 million people were using mobile payments in China. After the COVID-19 pandemic in China, the Payment and Clearing Association of China launched an action to encourage citizens to use mobile payments. In this article evolutionary game theory is presented. The benefits of e-payments between financial institutions and users are studied. Based on the analysis of the partners’ selection of costs and profits as well as other factors, important conclusions were drawn. The growth of the rural economy is beneficial to the change of the partners’ behavior in the rural e-payment market. Dynamic evolution of the partners’ behavior makes the supply and demand for rural e-payment services consistent. In order to create more benefits, financial institutions will lead the move to merge the rural e-payment market with the China National Advanced Payment System. These research results are beneficial for its growth by developing strategies to encourage more partners to take part in the rural e-payment market in China.

Ambiguity Aversion and Mutual Funds: Evidence from China

I provide empirical evidence of ambiguity averse investors’ behaviour in Chinas mutual funds market. My analysis is motivated by the substantial uncertainty in China’s mutual funds market, and theoretical research of decision indicates that investors would be more ambiguity averse when face higher uncertainty. The most substantial implication of the empirical research is that investors tend to place more weight on the worst signal. Across multiple horizons, fund flows will also display more sensitivity to the worst performance. I also conduct robustness test about the different rank funds by Morningstar rating and compare the positive and negative performance during the minimum performance period.

Managers’ skills and fund flows in the Japanese mutual fund market

Purpose Mutual fund investors assess a fund manager’s skills when allocating their capital. To identify the rationale behind retail investors’ decisions, this study aims to examine the relation between mutual fund flows and abnormal returns (alpha), as well as the various risk factors in the Japanese mutual fund market, which has distinctive characteristics regarding investors and distributors. Design/methodology/approach Six standard asset pricing models are used to investigate how investors assess mutual fund managers’ skills: the market-adjusted return, the capital asset pricing model and the Fama–French three-factor model and its augmented versions. Findings Contrary to the literature, this study finds that investors in Japan mainly rely on alpha to assess mutual funds. In particular, investors respond to alpha for fund inflows and their evaluations depend on the market environment and their mutual fund search costs. Originality/value This study measures the response of investors to the skills of mutual fund managers in the Japanese market – especially for funds purchased through bank-related distributors that have aimed to capture inexperienced retail investors since deregulation in the 1990s – and reveals their high response to alpha.

Hedge Fund Flows

Hedge fund flows characterize the average opinion of hedge fund investors about managerial skill, expected performance, financial and operational risk. However, liquidity restrictions hamper the ability of investors to rapidly switch from one fund to another. In addition, capacity constraints at the fund or style level may imply that future returns decrease when more money is allocated to a given hedge fund. In this chapter, we provide a detailed overview of what are the drivers, and limitations, of hedge fund flows, how flows are related to measures of past performance, and to what extent flows are able to predict subsequent performance. We also discuss some implications of these relationships, for example in terms of incentives to fund managers.

The Oxford Handbook of Hedge Funds

The Oxford Handbook of Hedge Funds provides a comprehensive look at the hedge fund industry from a global perspective. The chapters are organized into five main parts. After the introductory chapter in Part I, Part II begins in Chapter 2 with an analysis of the main factors that have affected the operation of hedge funds. Chapter 3 explains the concept of hedge fund flows. Chapter 4 examines hedge fund manager fees and contracts. Part III focuses on different types of hedge fund strategies. The broad array of strategies are summarized in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 empirically examines the performance of hedge fund strategies. Chapter 7 compares the strategies of hedge funds to private equity funds. Chapter 8 examines hedge fund herding. Chapter 9 examines hedge fund commodity trading advisors and leverage. Chapter 10 examines financial technology in hedge fund strategies. In Part IV, hedge fund activism in the US is examined in Chapter 11. The US and international literature on hedge fund activism is reviewed in different perspectives in Chapters 12 and 13. Case studies are provided in Chapter 14. The impact of activism on large company innovation is discussed in Chapter 15. In Part V, Chapter 16 examines whether hedge funds may engage in misreporting and fraud. Chapter 17 reviews work on hedge fund misconduct and detection. Chapter 18 discusses compliance among hedge funds. Chapter 19 examines theoretical approaches to hedge fund regulation. Chapter 20 examines optimal taxation. Chapter 21 examines hedge funds from a political economy context.

How Does Deleveraging Affect Funding Market Liquidity?

How does deleveraging affect the market liquidity of high-embedded-leverage securities issued by financial institutions and the funding constraints of these institutions? We use the forced deleveraging of structured mutual funds during the 2015 Chinese stock market crash to study the effects of deleveraging. Our regression-discontinuity analysis shows that deleveraging significantly reduces the market liquidity of the deleveraging funds’ equity units. Moreover, our difference-in-differences analysis shows that deleveraging results in large decreases in subsequent fund flows, stock and cash holdings, and performance, with the impact channeled through the deterioration of the market liquidity of the fund’s equity units. This paper was accepted by Victoria Ivashina, finance.