IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbfina/v129y2021ics0378426621001254.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Internet search, fund flows, and fund performance

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Hong-Yi
  • Chen, Hsuan-Chi
  • Lai, Christine W.

Abstract

This study uses the Google search volume index as a direct measure of investor attention to explore the connection between attention-grabbing information and fund flows, future performance, and the survivorship of newly issued funds. We find that investors often engage in attention-driven purchases of new funds that have captured their attention online. However, fund investors who conduct internet searches and make attention-driven purchases are less sophisticated and fail to allocate their capital for earning abnormal returns. We also find that attention-induced inflows can help sustain new funds in competitive fund markets via potential mitigation of mergers and liquidations. Our robustness checks show similar results for old funds, but attention-driven fund flows do not enhance the survival of old funds.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Hong-Yi & Chen, Hsuan-Chi & Lai, Christine W., 2021. "Internet search, fund flows, and fund performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:129:y:2021:i:c:s0378426621001254
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2021.106166
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378426621001254
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2021.106166?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kaniel, Ron & Starks, Laura T & Gallaher, Steven, 2015. "Advertising and Mutual Funds: From Families to Individual Funds," CEPR Discussion Papers 10329, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Hansen, Lars Peter, 1982. "Large Sample Properties of Generalized Method of Moments Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(4), pages 1029-1054, July.
    3. Yuan, Yu, 2015. "Market-wide attention, trading, and stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(3), pages 548-564.
    4. Lu Zheng, 1999. "Is Money Smart? A Study of Mutual Fund Investors' Fund Selection Ability," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(3), pages 901-933, June.
    5. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:6:p:2605-2622 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Narayanan Jayaraman & Ajay Khorana & Edward Nelling, 2002. "An Analysis of the Determinants and Shareholder Wealth Effects of Mutual Fund Mergers," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(3), pages 1521-1551, June.
    7. Kent D. Miller & Frances Fabian & Shu‐Jou Lin, 2009. "Strategies for online communities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 305-322, March.
    8. Singal, Vijay & Xu, Zhaojin, 2011. "Selling winners, holding losers: Effect on fund flows and survival of disposition-prone mutual funds," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 2704-2718, October.
    9. Chevalier, Judith & Ellison, Glenn, 1997. "Risk Taking by Mutual Funds as a Response to Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(6), pages 1167-1200, December.
    10. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:5:p:1589-1622 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Bikhchandani, Sushil & Hirshleifer, David & Welch, Ivo, 1992. "A Theory of Fads, Fashion, Custom, and Cultural Change in Informational Cascades," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(5), pages 992-1026, October.
    12. Aneel Keswani & David Stolin, 2008. "Which Money Is Smart? Mutual Fund Buys and Sells of Individual and Institutional Investors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(1), pages 85-118, February.
    13. Matthias Bank & Martin Larch & Georg Peter, 2011. "Google search volume and its influence on liquidity and returns of German stocks," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 25(3), pages 239-264, September.
    14. Berk, Jonathan B. & van Binsbergen, Jules H., 2015. "Measuring skill in the mutual fund industry," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(1), pages 1-20.
    15. Peng, Lin & Xiong, Wei, 2006. "Investor attention, overconfidence and category learning," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 563-602, June.
    16. Susan E. K. Christoffersen & Richard Evans & David K. Musto, 2013. "What Do Consumers’ Fund Flows Maximize? Evidence from Their Brokers’ Incentives," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(1), pages 201-235, February.
    17. Ha, Yeonjeong & Ko, Kwangsoo, 2017. "Why do fund managers increase risk?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 108-116.
    18. Vikram Nanda, 2004. "Family Values and the Star Phenomenon: Strategies of Mutual Fund Families," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 667-698.
    19. Dong Lou, 2014. "Attracting Investor Attention through Advertising," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(6), pages 1797-1829.
    20. Prem C. Jain & Joanna Shuang Wu, 2000. "Truth in Mutual Fund Advertising: Evidence on Future Performance and Fund Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(2), pages 937-958, April.
    21. Simon Gervais & Ron Kaniel & Dan H. Mingelgrin, 2001. "The High‐Volume Return Premium," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(3), pages 877-919, June.
    22. Cogneau, Philippe & Hübner, Georges, 2015. "The prediction of fund failure through performance diagnostics," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 224-241.
    23. Khorana, Ajay & Servaes, Henri, 1999. "The Determinants of Mutual Fund Starts," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(5), pages 1043-1074.
    24. Frazzini, Andrea & Lamont, Owen A., 2008. "Dumb money: Mutual fund flows and the cross-section of stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 299-322, May.
    25. William N. Goetzmann & Nadav Peles, 1997. "Cognitive Dissonance And Mutual Fund Investors," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 20(2), pages 145-158, June.
    26. Chen, Hsuan-Chi & Lai, Christine W., 2010. "Reputation stretching in mutual fund starts," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 193-207, January.
    27. Xinge Zhao, 2005. "Exit Decisions in the U.S. Mutual Fund Industry," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(4), pages 1365-1402, July.
    28. Frank M. Bass, 1969. "A New Product Growth for Model Consumer Durables," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(5), pages 215-227, January.
    29. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    30. Martin Rohleder & Dominik Schulte & Marco Wilkens, 2017. "Management of flow risk in mutual funds," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 31-56, January.
    31. Zhi Da & Joseph Engelberg & Pengjie Gao, 2011. "In Search of Attention," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1461-1499, October.
    32. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    33. Nicolaj Siggelkow, 2003. "Why Focus? A Study Of Intra‐Industry Focus Effects," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 121-150, June.
    34. Busse, Jeffrey A. & Clifton Green, T., 2002. "Market efficiency in real time," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 415-437, September.
    35. Richard B. Evans, 2010. "Mutual Fund Incubation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(4), pages 1581-1611, August.
    36. Michael S. Drake & Darren T. Roulstone & Jacob R. Thornock, 2012. "Investor Information Demand: Evidence from Google Searches Around Earnings Announcements," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(4), pages 1001-1040, September.
    37. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean, 2008. "All That Glitters: The Effect of Attention and News on the Buying Behavior of Individual and Institutional Investors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 785-818, April.
    38. Daniel Bergstresser & John M. R. Chalmers & Peter Tufano, 2009. "Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Brokers in the Mutual Fund Industry," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(10), pages 4129-4156, October.
    39. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean, 2002. "Online Investors: Do the Slow Die First?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(2), pages 455-488, March.
    40. Jennifer Huang & Kelsey D. Wei & Hong Yan, 2007. "Participation Costs and the Sensitivity of Fund Flows to Past Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(3), pages 1273-1311, June.
    41. Somnath Das & Re‐Jin Guo & Huai Zhang, 2006. "Analysts' Selective Coverage and Subsequent Performance of Newly Public Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(3), pages 1159-1185, June.
    42. William N. Goetzmann & Nadav Peles, 1997. "Cognitive Dissonance And Mutual Fund Investors," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 20(2), pages 145-158, June.
    43. Vlastakis, Nikolaos & Markellos, Raphael N., 2012. "Information demand and stock market volatility," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1808-1821.
    44. Ha, Yeonjeong & Ko, Kwangsoo, 2019. "Misspecifications in the fund flow-performance relationship," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 69-81.
    45. Terrance Odean, 1999. "Do Investors Trade Too Much?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1279-1298, December.
    46. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean & Lu Zheng, 2005. "Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Effects of Expenses on Mutual Fund Flows," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(6), pages 2095-2120, November.
    47. Joshua M. Pollet & Mungo Wilson, 2008. "How Does Size Affect Mutual Fund Behavior?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 2941-2969, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Cheng & Han, Jing, 2023. "Prospect theory and mutual fund flows: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Chen, Zhenhua & Liu, Zhenya & Teka, Hanen & Zhang, Yifan, 2022. "Smart money in China's A-share market: Evidence from big data," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    3. Do, Hung X. & Nguyen, Lily & Nguyen, Nhut H. & Nguyen, Quan M.P., 2022. "LGBT policy, investor trading behavior, and return comovement," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 457-483.
    4. Wu, Ming-Hung & Tsai, Wei-Che & Lu, Chia-Chi & Zhang, Hang, 2022. "Google searches around analyst recommendation revision announcements: Evidence from the Taiwan stock market," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 75-97.
    5. Lu, Shuai & Li, Shouwei & Zhou, Wei & Yang, Wenke, 2022. "Network herding of energy funds in the post-Carbon-Peak Policy era: Does it benefit profitability and stability?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    6. 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).
    7. Franz Sinabell, 2021. "Die österreichische Land- und Forstwirtschaft im Kontext der Bioökonomie," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 94(9), pages 651-664, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Clemens Sialm & T. Mandy Tham, 2016. "Spillover Effects in Mutual Fund Companies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(5), pages 1472-1486, May.
    2. George J. Jiang & H. Zafer Yüksel, 2019. "Sentimental mutual fund flows," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 54(4), pages 709-738, November.
    3. Jennifer Huang & Kelsey D. Wei & Hong Yan, 2022. "Investor learning and mutual fund flows," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 51(3), pages 739-765, September.
    4. Rakowski, David & Yamani, Ehab, 2021. "Endogeneity in the mutual fund flow–performance relationship: An instrumental variables solution," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 247-271.
    5. Shinozawa, Yoshikatsu & Vivian, Andrew, 2015. "Determinants of money flows into investment trusts in Japan," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 138-161.
    6. Casavecchia, Lorenzo, 2016. "Fund managers' herding and the sensitivity of fund flows to past performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 205-221.
    7. Linn K. Aasheim & António F. Miguel & Sofia B. Ramos, 2022. "Star rating, fund flows and performance predictability: evidence from Norway," Financial Markets and Portfolio Management, Springer;Swiss Society for Financial Market Research, vol. 36(1), pages 29-56, March.
    8. Ainulashikin Marzuki & Andrew C. Worthington, 2011. "Comparative fund flows for Malaysian Islamic and conventional domestic managed equity funds," Discussion Papers in Finance finance:201118, Griffith University, Department of Accounting, Finance and Economics.
    9. Chen, Yihao & Miguel, Antonio F. & Liu, Xiayue, 2021. "Does mutual fund family size matter? International evidence," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    10. Cuthbertson, Keith & Nitzsche, Dirk & O'Sullivan, Niall, 2016. "A review of behavioural and management effects in mutual fund performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 162-176.
    11. Jesus Sierra, 2012. "Consumer Interest Rates and Retail Mutual Fund Flows," Staff Working Papers 12-39, Bank of Canada.
    12. Li Xian Liu & Fuming Jiang & Jizhong Li & Omar Al Farooque, 2021. "Antecedents of Equity Fund Performance: A Contingency Perspective," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(01), pages 1-40, March.
    13. Navone, Marco & Pagani, Marco, 2015. "Brothers from different mothers how distribution fees change investment behavior," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 12-25.
    14. Bailey, Warren & Kumar, Alok & Ng, David, 2010. "Behavioral Biases of Mutual Fund Investors," Working Papers 10-23, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, Weiss Center.
    15. Kaniel, Ron & Starks, Laura T & Gallaher, Steven, 2015. "Advertising and Mutual Funds: From Families to Individual Funds," CEPR Discussion Papers 10329, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Hsieh, Shu-Fan & Chan, Chia-Ying & Wang, Ming-Chun, 2020. "Retail investor attention and herding behavior," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 109-132.
    17. Hodula, Martin & Szabo, Milan & Bajzík, Josef, 2024. "Retail fund flows and performance: Insights from supervisory data," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    18. Carlos Alves & Victor Mendes, 2011. "Does performance explain mutual fund flows in small markets? The case of Portugal," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 10(2), pages 129-147, August.
    19. Omori, Kozo & Kitamura, Tomoki, 2023. "Investor response to Morningstar's ratings, category information, and alpha in the Japanese mutual fund market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    20. Nanda, Vikram K. & Wang, Z. Jay & Zheng, Lu, 2009. "The ABCs of mutual funds: On the introduction of multiple share classes," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 329-361, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:129:y:2021:i:c:s0378426621001254. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbf .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.