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What's in a (Green) Name? The Consequences of Greening Fund Names on Fund Flows, Turnover, and Performance

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  • Ghoul, Sadok El
  • Karoui, Aymen

Abstract

We examine a sample of U.S. mutual funds and find that, between 2003 and 2018, 28 funds have changed their names to a sustainability-related appellation. Following the name change, we observe three main outcomes: (i) an increase in fund flows, (ii) a significant rise in portfolio turnover, and (iii) no substantial change in fund betas and alpha.

Suggested Citation

  • Ghoul, Sadok El & Karoui, Aymen, 2021. "What's in a (Green) Name? The Consequences of Greening Fund Names on Fund Flows, Turnover, and Performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:39:y:2021:i:c:s1544612319313777
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2020.101620
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Espenlaub, Susanne & Haq, Imtiaz ul & Khurshed, Arif, 2017. "It's all in the name: Mutual fund name changes after SEC Rule 35d-1," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 123-134.
    2. Benson, Karen L. & Humphrey, Jacquelyn E., 2008. "Socially responsible investment funds: Investor reaction to current and past returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1850-1859, September.
    3. Michael J. Cooper & Huseyin Gulen & P. Raghavendra Rau, 2005. "Changing Names with Style: Mutual Fund Name Changes and Their Effects on Fund Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2825-2858, December.
    4. Nofsinger, John & Varma, Abhishek, 2014. "Socially responsible funds and market crises," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 180-193.
    5. Thomas W. Doellman & Jennifer Itzkowitz & Jesse Itzkowitz & Sabuhi H. Sardarli, 2019. "Alphabeticity Bias in 401(k) Investing," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 54(4), pages 643-677, November.
    6. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    7. Renneboog, Luc & Ter Horst, Jenke & Zhang, Chendi, 2008. "The price of ethics and stakeholder governance: The performance of socially responsible mutual funds," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 302-322, June.
    8. Rob Bauer & Jeroen Derwall & Rogér Otten, 2007. "The Ethical Mutual Fund Performance Debate: New Evidence from Canada," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 70(2), pages 111-124, January.
    9. Green, T. Clifton & Jame, Russell, 2013. "Company name fluency, investor recognition, and firm value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 813-834.
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    Cited by:

    1. Barros, Victor & Falcão, Pedro Fontes & Sarmento, Joaquim Miranda, 2022. "Are more sustainable firms able to operate with lower working capital requirements?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 46(PB).
    2. Bertrand Candelon & Jean-Baptiste Hasse & Quentin Lajaunie, 2021. "ESG-Washing in the Mutual Funds Industry? From Information Asymmetry to Regulation," Risks, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-23, November.
    3. Yi, Er, 2023. "Corporate governance, information disclosure and investment - Cash flow sensitivity," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).
    4. Cheraghali, Hamid & Igeh, Sofia Aarstad & Lin, Kuan-Heng & Molnár, Peter & Wijerathne, Iddamalgodage, 2022. "Online attention and mutual fund performance: Evidence from Norway," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    5. Kleffel, Philipp & Muck, Matthias, 2023. "Aggregate confusion or inner conflict? An experimental analysis of investors’ reaction to greenwashing," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    6. Ma, Wenchao & Duan, Xiaoman & Tang, Yongjun, 2023. "Enterprise sustainable development and green fund concern: The analysis and test of R&D from listed companies in China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    7. Aymen Karoui & Sadok El Ghoul, 2022. "Fund names versus family names: Implications for mutual fund flows," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 57(3), pages 509-531, August.
    8. Shi, Yang & Chen, Shu & Liu, Ruiming & Kang, Yankun, 2022. "Fund renaming and fund flows: Evidence from China's stock market crash in 2015," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mutual fund flows; Socially responsible investing; Fund names; Fund performance; Turnover; Sustainability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

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