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Broken promises, competition, and capital allocation in the mutual fund industry

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  • Abis, Simona
  • Lines, Anton

Abstract

What characteristics of mutual funds do investors care about? In addition to performance and fees, we show that investors exhibit a clear preference for managers who adhere to the strategies they describe in their prospectuses. Capital flows respond negatively when funds diverge from the average holdings of their text-based strategy peer groups, but positively when they outperform those peer averages. We identify this effect using a novel instrumental variables approach, and show that funds face a delicate trade-off between keeping their promises and outperforming their peers who make similar promises.

Suggested Citation

  • Abis, Simona & Lines, Anton, 2024. "Broken promises, competition, and capital allocation in the mutual fund industry," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:162:y:2024:i:c:s0304405x24001715
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2024.103948
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mutual fund strategies; Prospectuses; Industrial organization; Fund flows; Machine learning;
    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
    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General

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