Les fonds mutuels sont désormais reconnus comme une possibilité de diversifier des investissements en actions et constituent actuellement une alternative (ou un complément) aux investissements directs en actions. L'industrie des fonds mutuels est désormais présente dans la majorité des pays et a enregistré une croissance spectaculaire au cours des dernières années. En dépit de son importance, cette industrie a fait l'objet de peu de recherches en dehors des Etats-Unis. Notre étude a pour but de combler ce manque. A travers l'utilisation d'une base de données récente fournie par Eurofidai, nous analysons les attributs et la performance des fonds mutuels européens en fondant notre étude sur le cas des fonds d'actions français. Cette thèse de doctorat examine le problème de sélection des investisseurs confrontés à une masse d'information importante qui peut résulter en une certaine confusion lors de l'allocation d'actifs. Afin d'acquérir une meilleure compréhension des fonds mutuels, nous analysons certains facteurs et caractéristiques qui sont susceptibles d'avoir un impact sur leur performance et par conséquent influent sur la prise de décision des investisseurs. Notre étude empirique utilise des données mensuelles entre 1990 et 2009 sur un ensemble de fonds mutuels investis en actions françaises. Les objectifs de la recherche sont au nombre de trois : l'évaluation des performances des fonds mutuels, la détermination des caractéristiques ayant un impact sur ces performances et les explications potentielles de la structure des frais de gestion. Nos résultats révèlent que les fonds français préfèrent les actions à petite taille et book-to-market. Il apparaît que la taille du fonds et sa longévité ont un impact positif sur la performance. Nous montrons également qu'il existe des économies d'échelle dans les familles de fonds. Par exemple, les fonds contenant des titres à faibles capitalisation favorisent les investisseurs en réclamant des frais de gestion plus faibles.. Ce travail de recherche apporte aux chercheurs, analystes et investisseurs des éléments de réponse et permet ainsi à ces derniers d'affiner leur prise de décision relative à l'investissement dans l'industrie des fonds mutuels. / Ever since the investment community first recognized mutual funds as a means for diversification, asset preservation, and asset accumulation, academics and practitioners have conducted many studies designed to ascertain their appeal. The mutual funds are gaining importance worldwide and it has registered a spectacular growth in the entire world. Despite the importance of the mutual fund industry, it has received little academic attention outside the USA. Therefore, our study intends to contribute in filling this gap. Using a new database of Eurofidai, we analyze mutual funds' various aspects in European context with a case of French equity mutual funds. This study has introduced the problem investors have in selecting mutual funds, where the sheer amount of information on mutual funds results in investor confusion. To dispel this confusion and to bring a deeper understanding in mutual funds, we have examined certain factors and characteristics that affect the mutual funds performance and ultimately investors' decisions. This study followed suit by compiling monthly data from 1990 to 2009 for equity mutual funds domestically invested in France. We have three basic research objectives; performance evaluation of equity mutual funds; designating funds' characteristics effecting performance and potential determinants for structuring fund's fees being charged to investors. Our results reveal that French funds prefer smaller stocks and lower book to market ratio. We provide evidence of positive impact of funds' size and age on fund performance. We also found economies of scale in fund families. Funds having small cap holdings favor investors by charging low management fees. This research provides academics, analysts and investors some insight in mutual funds to refine their preferences and some key features to be considered while deciding their investments.

The Master thesis "Analysis of selected investment funds in the Czech republic" deals with collective investments with focus on mutual funds. The first part is dedicated to definition of the term collective investments, its history and general characteristics of mutual funds. The middle part is dedicated at firts to the czech market of collective investment and the analysis of this market. The last part focuses on comparison of the performance of selected funds and its characteristics.

This diploma thesis deals with the management of free capital of a selected company on the financial market with a focus on mutual funds and ETFs. The result is the construction and analysis of the potential appreciation of the investment strategy interpreted through historical data and a comparison of the results with alternative options for the appreciation of financial capital, especially in the form of mutual funds.

Hållbarhet har kommit att bli en av denna generations största utmaningar och som ett resultat av ett globalt växande klimatfokus har regeringar och mellanstatliga organisationer utformat allt mer omfattande regleringar och initiativ för att möta samhällets krav på en hållbar utveckling. Att företag ska engagera sig i hållbarhetsarbete och ta socialt ansvar anses allt mer som en självklarhet och följaktligen har hållbarhetsfrågor inte enbart fått större inslag inom företag och dess ledningsgrupper, utan även hos investerare. Denna studie har som syfte att analysera huruvida ESG påverkar den justerade avkastningen på fonder i Sverige och Norden. För att analysera detta förhållande fokuserar studien på fonders hållbarhetsbetyg grundade på hållbarhetsparametrarna miljö, socialt ansvar och bolagsstyrning (ESG). I denna studie utforskar vi den övergripande frågan om konceptet ESG och för en diskussion kring dess inverkan på fondpriser. Metoden som används innefattar de finansiella kvoterna Sharpe, Sortino och Treynor samt Jensens Alfa, vars värden i sin tur jämfördes mot urvalet av fonder i studien som rangordnats efter Morningstars hållbarhetsbetyg. Studiens resultat leder till slutsatsen att det inte finns något tydligt positivt eller negativt samband mellan fonders riskjusterade avkastning och dess hållbarhetsbetyg. / Sustainability has become one of the biggest challenges for the current living generation and as a result of the increased focus on the climate issue, governments and intergovernmental organizations have designed increasingly comprehensive regulations and initiatives in order to meet society's demands for sustainable development. That companies should become more involved in sustainability work and take social responsibility is increasingly regarded as a matter of course, and consequently sustainability issues have not only gained greater importance within companies and its management groups, but also with investors. The purpose of this study is to analyse whether ESG affects the adjusted returns for funds in Sweden and the Nordics. In order to analyse this relationship the study focuses on the sustainability rating of mutual funds that are based on the sustainability parameters environmental, social and corporate governance, together referred to as ESG. In this study, we explore the overall concept of ESG and discuss its impact on fund prices. The method being used includes the financial quotas Sharpe, Sortino, Treynor and Jensen's Alpha, whose values in turn was compared against the selection of funds in the study ranked according to their respective Morningstar sustainability rating. The results of the study lead to the conclusion that there is no clear correlation, neither positive nor negative, between the funds risk-adjusted returns and its sustainability rating.

Socially responsible investing has presented itself as a growing, multifaceted, advanced and sophisticated investment philosophy. Socially responsible investment (SRI) involves incorporating social, ethical and responsible investment objectives with financial investment objectives during the investment decision-making process. Social, ethical and responsible investment objectives are set in line with environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria which are established within the SRI strategy followed. SRI strategies include screening (negative, positive and best-of-sector), shareholder activism and cause-based investing. Although international SRI markets such as that of the United States of America and the United Kingdom are sophisticated and established markets, the South African SRI market is still relatively new and is yet to reach its full potential. Thus, as a growing market, little research regarding the long term risk-adjusted performance of SRI funds in South Africa has been conducted. The long term risk-adjusted performance of the sample of SRI funds was measured through the use of five risk-adjusted performance measures, namely the Treynor ratio, Sharpe ratio, Jensen’s alpha, Sortino ratio and Omega ratio, and through the use of three performance measurement models which included the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), Fama-French three-factor model and Carhart four-factor model. The risk-adjusted performance of the sample of SRI funds was measured with the intent to establish if these funds out- or underperformed against three benchmark categories, namely the Financial Times Stock Exchange/Johannesburg Stock Exchange (FTSE/JSE) SRI Index, a matched sample of conventional investment (non-SRI) funds and the FTSE/JSE All Share Index. The probable effect of the 2007/08 global financial crisis was also measured to analyse whether such a hazardous market event affected the performance of the SRI funds. According to the results and findings, the risk-adjusted performance of the SRI funds has improved over the research period. However, the SRI funds neither outperformed nor underperformed against the three benchmark categories over the research period. The performance measurement models’ analysis indicated that the SRI funds were less sensitive to market fluctuations, more exposed to small capitalisation portfolios, more growth-oriented, and exhibited significant momentum after the period of the 2007/08 global financial crisis. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that the SRI funds significantly underperformed against the non-SRI funds during the Performance of socially responsible investment funds in South Africa research period. Mixed results were obtained with regards to the probable effect of the 2007/08 global financial crisis on the performance of the SRI funds.

Socially responsible investing has presented itself as a growing, multifaceted, advanced and sophisticated investment philosophy. Socially responsible investment (SRI) involves incorporating social, ethical and responsible investment objectives with financial investment objectives during the investment decision-making process. Social, ethical and responsible investment objectives are set in line with environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria which are established within the SRI strategy followed. SRI strategies include screening (negative, positive and best-of-sector), shareholder activism and cause-based investing. Although international SRI markets such as that of the United States of America and the United Kingdom are sophisticated and established markets, the South African SRI market is still relatively new and is yet to reach its full potential. Thus, as a growing market, little research regarding the long term risk-adjusted performance of SRI funds in South Africa has been conducted. The long term risk-adjusted performance of the sample of SRI funds was measured through the use of five risk-adjusted performance measures, namely the Treynor ratio, Sharpe ratio, Jensen’s alpha, Sortino ratio and Omega ratio, and through the use of three performance measurement models which included the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), Fama-French three-factor model and Carhart four-factor model. The risk-adjusted performance of the sample of SRI funds was measured with the intent to establish if these funds out- or underperformed against three benchmark categories, namely the Financial Times Stock Exchange/Johannesburg Stock Exchange (FTSE/JSE) SRI Index, a matched sample of conventional investment (non-SRI) funds and the FTSE/JSE All Share Index. The probable effect of the 2007/08 global financial crisis was also measured to analyse whether such a hazardous market event affected the performance of the SRI funds. According to the results and findings, the risk-adjusted performance of the SRI funds has improved over the research period. However, the SRI funds neither outperformed nor underperformed against the three benchmark categories over the research period. The performance measurement models’ analysis indicated that the SRI funds were less sensitive to market fluctuations, more exposed to small capitalisation portfolios, more growth-oriented, and exhibited significant momentum after the period of the 2007/08 global financial crisis. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that the SRI funds significantly underperformed against the non-SRI funds during the Performance of socially responsible investment funds in South Africa research period. Mixed results were obtained with regards to the probable effect of the 2007/08 global financial crisis on the performance of the SRI funds.

Pervious academic researches point out that there are two-way effects in the relationship between fund return performance and cash flows. The preceding fund return performance would attract net cash flows and cash flows would adversely affect the succeeding fund return performance. This paper tries to verify that whether these effects exist in Taiwan and examine these effects in more details. The results are partly consistent with pervious literatures. In our sample, we find that fund return performance positive influences both cash inflows and outflows and cash flows do affect succeeding return performance.

Few studies have examined the impact of portfolio concentration upon the realised volatility of stock index portfolios, such as the FTSE 100. Instead, previous research has focused upon diversification across industries, across geographic regions and across different firms. The present study addresses this imbalance by calculating the daily time series of four concentration metrics for the FTSE 100 Index over the period from January 1984 through March 2003. In addition, the value weighted variance covariance matrix (VCM) of daily FTSE 100 Index constituent returns is decomposed into four sub-components: two from the diagonal elements and two from the off-diagonal elements of the VCM. These consist of the average variance of constituent returns, represented by the sum of diagonal elements in the VCM, and the average covariance represented by the sum of off-diagonal elements in the VCM. The value weighted average variance (VAV) and covariance (VAC) are each subdivided into the equally weighted average variance (EAV) the equally weighted average covariance (EAC) and incremental components that represent the difference between the respective value-weighted and equally weighted averages. These are referred to as the incremental average variance (IAV) and the incremental average covariance (IAC) respectively. The incremental average variance and the incremental average covariance are then combined, additively, to produce the incremental realised variance (IRV) of the FTSE 100 Index. The incremental average covariance and the incremental realised variance are found to be negative during the 1987 crash and the 1992 ERM crisis. They are also negative for a substantial part of the study period, even when concentration was at its highest level. Hence the findings of the study are consistent with the notion that the value weighted, and hence concentrated, FTSE 100 Index portfolio is generally less risky than a hypothetical equally weighted portfolio of FTSE 100 Index constituents. Furthermore, increases in concentration tend to precede decreases in incremental realised volatility and increases in the equally weighted components of the realised VCM. The results have important implications for portfolio managers concerned with the effect of changing portfolio weights upon portfolio volatility. They are also relevant to passive investors concerned about the effects of increased concentration upon their benchmark indices, and to providers of stock market indices.

Die vorliegende Dissertation besteht aus drei Kapiteln über die Investmentfonds. Das erste Kapitel befasst sich mit der Rolle der Fondsmanager in der Bilanzverschönerung. Auf Basis der Analyse der Karrierewege von amerikanischen Fondsmanagern werden signifikante zusammenwirkende Manager-Fixed-Effects identifiziert, die nach der Kontrolle der endogenen Matching-Probleme immer noch robust sind. Die geschätzten Manager-Fixed-Effects haben signifikante Einflüsse auf die Out-of-Sample-Vorhersagen. Außerdem wird festgestellt, dass die Verriegelungen der Investmentfonds, die von gemeinsamen Managern verwaltet wurden, wichtige Kanäle für die Bilanzverschönerung verursachen. Das zweite Kapitel beschäftigt sich mit den Investmentstrategien der Fonds im Hinblick auf die Nutzung von Credit Default Swaps (CDS). Die Zuordnung der CDS-Positionen der Investmentfonds zu ihrem Bestandportfolio bietet eine neue Methodik zur Identifizierung der CDS-Strategien und kompensiert somit die Analysen der existierenden Literatur auf der Makroebene. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Anreize zur Risikoreduzierung die Spekulationsanreize dominieren, insbesondere, wenn die Kreditexposition durch ungedeckte Leerverkäufe der CDS-Verträge erhöht wird. Die erfahrenen Fondsmanager tendieren dazu, mehr Kreditrisiko in Kauf zu nehmen, während es für die Fondsmanagerinnen wahrscheinlicher als für ihre männlichen Kollegen ist, gegen das bestehende Risiko abzusichern. Der letzte Teil nimmt die Pleite von Lehman Brothers unter die Lupe, um sich mit der daraus resultierenden unerwarteten Schließung der CDS-Positionen als einem natürlichen Experiment auseinanderzusetzten. Diese Studie dient zur Untersuchung der Risiko- und Leistungsimplikationen der CDS-Investments der Fonds. Die Investmentfonds besitzen bei ihren CDS-Transaktionen im Durchschnitt einen beachtlichen Teil Extremrisiko. Während die CDS-Nutzer von guten Gesamtmarktlagen profitieren, erleiden sie unter Verlusten bei geclusterten Ausfällen. / This dissertation comprises of three chapters on mutual funds. The first chapter establishes the role of managers in the deceptive practice of window dressing. Employing comprehensive career history of U.S. mutual fund managers, I find strong jointly significant manager fixed effects, which are robust after addressing endogenous matching concerns. The estimated manager fixed effects are significant in making out-of-sample predictions. Further I establish that mutual fund interlocks through common managers are important channels that spread window dressing. The second chapter studies the investment strategies of mutual funds regarding their use of credit default swaps (CDS). Matches between mutual funds’ CDS positions and their underlying portfolio in the holdings facilitate a new approach in identifying CDS strategies that complements the “macro” level analyses in the existing literature. I find risk reducing incentives are dominated by speculative incentives, especially those to increase credit exposure via naked short CDS contracts. Experienced fund managers tend to take on more credit risk, while female managers are more likely to hedge comparing with their male peers. The third chapter employs the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the resulting sudden closures of CDS positions as a natural experiment to examine the risk and performance implications of mutual funds’ CDS investments. Funds on average load up on a significant amount of tail risk by trading CDS. While CDS users benefit when market conditions are favorable, they suffer during periods of clustered defaults.

We investigate the activity and performance of 64 Swedish registered mutual equity funds available in the Swedish Premium Pension System from October 2002 to December 2011. Fund activity is measured by applying the holdings based analysis Active Share combined with Tracking Error Volatility (TEV). Active Share is a relatively new measure that compares a fund’s holdings with its benchmark index constituents (Cremers & Petajisto, 2009; Petajisto, 2013). This is used as a proxy for the fund’s stock selection strategy. As a complement, TEV is used as a proxy for the factor timing strategy. Performance are measured by using Jensen’s (1968) model, Fama and French’s (1993) model and Carhart’s (1997) model. We document that Swedish funds in the Premium Pension System are relatively passive in term of Active Share compared to US funds. We attribute this finding to the relative number of stocks held by a fund compared to the market. Swedish equity funds hold a relatively larger share of the number of stocks in the Swedish market while US funds hold a relatively smaller share of the stocks in the US market. We run a panel regression analysis to test the relation between Active Share and various variables. We find that funds with higher TER fees and fewer stocks on average have higher Active Share. There are also indications that TEV is positively related to Active Share. However, the overall explanatory power of the variables is low. We attribute this as evidence that Active Share is an independent measure of fund activity. Overall, we find neutral performance for an equally weighted portfolio of all funds in the PPS. To examine the performance differences between different levels of activity, we sort funds into five portfolios based on Active Share and TEV. The results show that, given a medium-to-low TEV, funds with high Active Share significantly outperform funds with low Active Share. Furthermore, it appears that the fee rebate in the Premium Pension System is important especially for the passive funds. Without the rebate, the passive funds underperform significantly. We run a panel regression analysis on the future fund performance to test the predictive abilities of Active Share and TEV. The results indicate that Active Share does not explain future performance differences. Conversely, TEV is negatively related to future performance which can be explained by fund managers being overconfident