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Flight-to-liquidity, market uncertainty, and the actions of mutual fund investors

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  • Ben-Rephael, Azi

Abstract

We explore the trading decisions of equity mutual funds during ten periods of extreme market uncertainty. We find that mutual funds reduced their aggregate holdings of illiquid stocks. Exploring the drivers behind this result reveals that this is mainly driven by larger withdrawals from funds that hold less liquid stocks. We further find that the sell-off of illiquid stocks occurred only after initial deterioration in market conditions, consistent with retail investors’ response to bad performance. At a broader level, this shows that mutual funds consumed liquidity during periods where liquidity was most valuable. Moreover, the fact that fund managers traded in response to these withdrawals suggests a potentially magnifying channel for the drop in illiquid stock prices, also known as flight-to-liquidity.

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  • Ben-Rephael, Azi, 2017. "Flight-to-liquidity, market uncertainty, and the actions of mutual fund investors," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 30-44.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinin:v:31:y:2017:i:c:p:30-44
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfi.2017.05.002
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Market uncertainty; Financial crises; Liquidity; Flight-to-liquidity; Flow-induced trading; Mutual funds; Institutional investors; Liquidity provision; Portfolio liquidation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General

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