IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecofin/v63y2022ics1062940822001577.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fund immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Chinese equity funds

Author

Listed:
  • Ling, Aifan
  • Huang, Xinrui
  • Ling, Boya (Vivye)

Abstract

This paper discusses the connection between public equity fund characteristics and performance reactions to COVID-19 using data over 1300 equity funds across 105 Chinese fund companies. Empirical evidences from over 20 fund characteristics show that the liquidity, diversification and pre-2020 Sharpe ratio, fund management abilities, agency costs can determine the fund immunity to COVID-19. Based on these characteristics mentioned, our empirical results can explain why COVID-19-induced drop in fund performance is milder among open-end funds, active funds, ETFs, and growth funds, and also can explain why funds controlled by private companies or by sino-foreign joint ventures or by companies with more independent directors of financial experiences perform better in the pandemic. Our work also provides some valuable suggestions for investors and regulators confronting an exogenous shock.

Suggested Citation

  • Ling, Aifan & Huang, Xinrui & Ling, Boya (Vivye), 2022. "Fund immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Chinese equity funds," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecofin:v:63:y:2022:i:c:s1062940822001577
    DOI: 10.1016/j.najef.2022.101822
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062940822001577
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.najef.2022.101822?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. Grinblatt, Mark & Titman, Sheridan, 1993. "Performance Measurement without Benchmarks: An Examination of Mutual Fund Returns," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(1), pages 47-68, January.
    2. Rüdiger Fahlenbrach & Kevin Rageth & René M Stulz, 2021. "How Valuable Is Financial Flexibility when Revenue Stops? Evidence from the COVID-19 Crisis [The risk of being a fallen angel and the corporate dash for cash in the midst of COVID]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(11), pages 5474-5521.
    3. Brian J. Bushee & Theodore H. Goodman, 2007. "Which Institutional Investors Trade Based on Private Information About Earnings and Returns?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 289-321, May.
    4. Roger Otten & Dennis Bams, 2002. "European Mutual Fund Performance," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 8(1), pages 75-101, March.
    5. Ross Levine & Chen Lin & Mingzhu Tai & Wensi Xie, 2021. "How Did Depositors Respond to COVID-19? [A crisis of banks as liquidity providers]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(11), pages 5438-5473.
    6. Salisu, Afees A. & Vo, Xuan Vinh & Lawal, Adedoyin, 2021. "Hedging oil price risk with gold during COVID-19 pandemic," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    7. Josue Cox & Daniel L. Greenwald & Sydney C. Ludvigson, 2020. "What Explains the COVID-19 Stock Market?," NBER Working Papers 27784, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Zhang, Xu & Ding, Zhijing & Hang, Jianqin & He, Qizhi, 2022. "How do stock price indices absorb the COVID-19 pandemic shocks?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    9. Apergis, Nicholas & Danuletiu, Dan & Xu, Bing, 2022. "CDS spreads and COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    10. Falato, Antonio & Goldstein, Itay & Hortaçsu, Ali, 2021. "Financial fragility in the COVID-19 crisis: The case of investment funds in corporate bond markets," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 35-52.
    11. Ranadeb Chaudhuri & Zoran Ivković & Joshua Pollet & Charles Trzcinka, 2020. "A Tangled Tale of Training and Talent: PhDs in Institutional Asset Management," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(12), pages 5623-5647, December.
    12. Grinblatt, Mark & Titman, Sheridan, 1992. "The Persistence of Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(5), pages 1977-1984, December.
    13. Zaremba, Adam & Kizys, Renatas & Tzouvanas, Panagiotis & Aharon, David Y. & Demir, Ender, 2021. "The quest for multidimensional financial immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from international stock markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Paczos, Wojtek & Shakhnov, Kirill, 2022. "Defaulting on Covid debt," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    15. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    16. Mark M. Carhart & Jennifer N. Carpenter & Anthony W. Lynch & David K. Musto, 2002. "Mutual Fund Survivorship," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 15(5), pages 1439-1463.
    17. Hu, Michael Y. & Chen, Haiyang, 1996. "An empirical analysis of factors explaining foreign joint venture performance in China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 165-173, February.
    18. Jose M. Berrospide, 2021. "Bank Liquidity Hoarding and the Financial Crisis: An Empirical Evaluation," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 11(04), pages 1-35, December.
    19. Malkiel, Burton G, 1995. "Returns from Investing in Equity Mutual Funds 1971 to 1991," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(2), pages 549-572, June.
    20. Bao, Zhengyang & Huang, Difang, 2021. "Shadow Banking in a Crisis: Evidence from Fintech During COVID-19," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(7), pages 2320-2355, November.
    21. Laurie Prather & William J. Bertin & Thomas Henker, 2004. "Mutual fund characteristics, managerial attributes, and fund performance," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(4), pages 305-326.
    22. Feng, Xunan & Johansson, Anders C. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2015. "Mixing business with politics: Political participation by entrepreneurs in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 220-235.
    23. William Droms & David Walker, 2001. "Persistence of mutual fund operating characteristics: returns, turnover rates, and expense ratios," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(4), pages 457-466.
    24. Ding, Wenzhi & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Xie, Wensi, 2021. "Corporate immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 802-830.
    25. Zhifeng Liu & Toan Luu Duc Huynh & Peng-Fei Dai, 2020. "The impact of COVID-19 on the stock market crash risk in China," Papers 2009.08030, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2021.
    26. Valentin Haddad & Alan Moreira & Tyler Muir, 2021. "When Selling Becomes Viral: Disruptions in Debt Markets in the COVID-19 Crisis and the Fed’s Response [Funding value adjustments]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(11), pages 5309-5351.
    27. Lei Li & Yi Li & Marco Macchiavelli & Xing (Alex) Zhou, 2021. "Liquidity Restrictions, Runs, and Central Bank Interventions: Evidence from Money Market Funds [Dealer financial conditions and lender-of-last-resort facilities]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(11), pages 5402-5437.
    28. Kumar, Ashish & Iqbal, Najaf & Mitra, Subrata Kumar & Kristoufek, Ladislav & Bouri, Elie, 2022. "Connectedness among major cryptocurrencies in standard times and during the COVID-19 outbreak," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    29. Prather, Laurie & Bertin, William J. & Henker, Thomas, 2004. "Mutual fund characteristics, managerial attributes, and fund performance," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 305-326.
    30. Barroso, Pedro & Santa-Clara, Pedro, 2015. "Momentum has its moments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 111-120.
    31. Kim, Youngsoo & Lee, Bong Soo, 2007. "Limited participation and the closed-end fund discount," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 381-399, February.
    32. Miles Livingston & Lei Zhou, 2015. "Brokerage Commissions And Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 38(3), pages 283-303, September.
    33. Li, Wei & Rhee, Ghon & Wang, Steven Shuye, 2017. "Differences in herding: Individual vs. institutional investors," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 174-185.
    34. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    35. Deev, Oleg & Plíhal, Tomáš, 2022. "How to calm down the markets? The effects of COVID-19 economic policy responses on financial market uncertainty," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    36. Ji, Qiang & Zhang, Dayong & Zhao, Yuqian, 2020. "Searching for safe-haven assets during the COVID-19 pandemic," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    37. Cremers, Martijn & Driessen, Joost & Maenhout, Pascal & Weinbaum, David, 2009. "Does Skin in the Game Matter? Director Incentives and Governance in the Mutual Fund Industry," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(6), pages 1345-1373, December.
    38. Pi‐Hsia Hung & Donald Lien & Yun‐Ju Chien, 2020. "Portfolio concentration and fund manager performance," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(3), pages 423-451, July.
    39. Abhay Kaushik & Scott W Barnhart, 2009. "Do mutual funds with few holdings outperform the market?," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(6), pages 398-408, February.
    40. Fulkerson, Jon A. & Riley, Timothy B., 2019. "Portfolio concentration and mutual fund performance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 1-16.
    41. Liu, Zhifeng & Huynh, Toan Luu Duc & Dai, Peng-Fei, 2021. "The impact of COVID-19 on the stock market crash risk in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    42. Ashraf, Badar Nadeem, 2020. "Stock markets’ reaction to COVID-19: Cases or fatalities?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    43. Xiaoqing Eleanor Xu, 2005. "Performance of Securities Investment Funds in China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 28-42, October.
    44. Rehman, Mobeen Ur & Kang, Sang Hoon & Ahmad, Nasir & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2021. "The impact of COVID-19 on the G7 stock markets: A time-frequency analysis," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    45. Duan, Yuejiao & Liu, Lanbiao & Wang, Zhuo, 2021. "COVID-19 Sentiment and the Chinese Stock Market: Evidence from the Official News Media and Sina Weibo," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    46. Li, Yanshuang & Zhuang, Xintian & Wang, Jian & Dong, Zibing, 2021. "Analysis of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on G20 stock markets," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Pi‐Hsia Hung & Donald Lien & Yun‐Ju Chien, 2020. "Portfolio concentration and fund manager performance," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(3), pages 423-451, July.
    2. Hung, Pi-Hsia & Lien, Donald & Kuo, Ming-Sin, 2020. "Window dressing in equity mutual funds," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 338-354.
    3. Demir, Ender & Danisman, Gamze Ozturk, 2021. "Banking sector reactions to COVID-19: The role of bank-specific factors and government policy responses," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    4. Cakici, Nusret & Zaremba, Adam, 2021. "Who should be afraid of infections? Pandemic exposure and the cross-section of stock returns," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    5. Luis Vicente & Luis Ferruz, 2005. "Performance persistence in Spanish equity funds," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(18), pages 1305-1313.
    6. Rouatbi, Wael & Demir, Ender & Kizys, Renatas & Zaremba, Adam, 2021. "Immunizing markets against the pandemic: COVID-19 vaccinations and stock volatility around the world," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    7. Babalos, Vassilios & Caporale, Guglielmo Maria & Philippas, Nikolaos, 2012. "Efficiency evaluation of Greek equity funds," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 317-333.
    8. Omneya Abdelsalam & Meryem Duygun & Juan Carlos Matallín-Sáez & Emili Tortosa-Ausina, 2014. "Is Ethical Money Sensitive to Past Returns? The Case of Portfolio Constraints and Persistence of Islamic and Socially Responsible Funds," Working Papers 2014/19, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    9. Hunter, David & Kandel, Eugene & Kandel, Shmuel & Wermers, Russ, 2009. "Endogenous benchmarks," CFR Working Papers 10-02, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    10. Veeravel. V & A. Balakrishnan, 2023. "Persistence of Large-Cap Equity Funds performance, market timing ability, and selectivity: evidence from India," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 30(1), pages 37-48, March.
    11. Mamatzakis, Emmanuel & Xu, Bingrun, 2016. "Managerial attributes and equity mutual fund performance: evidence from china," MPRA Paper 76139, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Matallín-Sáez, Juan Carlos & Soler-Domínguez, Amparo & Tortosa-Ausina, Emili, 2016. "On the robustness of persistence in mutual fund performance," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 192-231.
    13. Capocci, Daniel & Hubner, Georges, 2004. "Analysis of hedge fund performance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 55-89, January.
    14. Omneya Abdelsalam & Meryem Duygun & Juan Carlos Matallín-Sáez & Emili Tortosa-Ausina, 2017. "Is Ethical Money Sensitive to Past Returns? The Case of Portfolio Constraints and Persistence in Islamic Funds," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 51(3), pages 363-384, June.
    15. Zaremba, Adam & Kizys, Renatas & Tzouvanas, Panagiotis & Aharon, David Y. & Demir, Ender, 2021. "The quest for multidimensional financial immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from international stock markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    16. Collinet, Lance & Firer, Colin, 2003. "Characterising persistence of performance amongst South African general equity unit trusts," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 523-538, December.
    17. Martin Rohleder & Hendrik Scholz & Marco Wilkens, 2010. "Survivorship Bias and Mutual Fund Performance: Relevance, Significance, and Methodical Differences," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 15(2), pages 441-474.
    18. Chris Bilson & Angela Frino & Richard Heaney, 2005. "Australian retail fund performance persistence," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 45(1), pages 25-42, March.
    19. Lean, Hooi Hooi & Ang, Wei Rong & Smyth, Russell, 2015. "Performance and performance persistence of socially responsible investment funds in Europe and North America," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 254-266.
    20. Vidal-García, Javier & Vidal, Marta & Boubaker, Sabri & Uddin, Gazi Salah, 2016. "The short-term persistence of international mutual fund performance," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 926-938.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fund characteristic; COVID-19; Fund performance; Fund immunity; Sharpe ratio;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ecofin:v:63:y:2022:i:c:s1062940822001577. 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/inca/620163 .

    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.