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Agency costs, governance, and organizational forms: Evidence from the mutual fund industry

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  • Ferris, Stephen P.
  • Yan, Xuemin (Sterling)

Abstract

Using a comprehensive sample of mutual funds and fund families for the period 1992-2004, this study examines the impact of fund management companies' organizational forms on the level of agency costs within mutual funds. We find that, all else being equal: (1) funds managed by public fund families charge higher fees than those managed by private fund families; (2) public fund families acquire more funds than private fund families; and (3) funds of public fund families significantly underperform funds of private fund families. Collectively, these findings suggest that agency costs are higher in mutual funds managed by public fund families. Our results are consistent with the idea that the agency conflict between the fund management company and fund shareholders is more acute for public management companies because of their shorter-term focus.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferris, Stephen P. & Yan, Xuemin (Sterling), 2009. "Agency costs, governance, and organizational forms: Evidence from the mutual fund industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 619-626, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:33:y:2009:i:4:p:619-626
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    3. Alexander Eisele & Tamara Nefedova & Gianpaolo Parise, 2015. "Are Star Funds Really Shining? Cross-trading And Performance Shifting In Mutual Fund Families," Post-Print hal-01458357, HAL.
    4. Adams, John C. & Mansi, Sattar A. & Nishikawa, Takeshi, 2012. "Are mutual fund fees excessive?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 2245-2259.
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    7. Ayadi, Mohamed A. & Kryzanowski, Lawrence & Mohebshahedin, Mahmood, 2018. "Impact of sponsorship on fixed-income fund performance," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 121-137.
    8. Clemens Sialm & T. Mandy Tham, 2016. "Spillover Effects in Mutual Fund Companies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(5), pages 1472-1486, May.
    9. Emmanuel Mamatzakis & Bingrun Xu, 2021. "Does ownership structure affect performance? Evidence from Chinese mutual funds," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 56(4), pages 1399-1435, May.
    10. Ng, Lilian & Wang, Qinghai & Zaiats, Nataliya, 2009. "Firm performance and mutual fund voting," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 2207-2217, December.
    11. Lee, Jaeram & Jeon, Hyunglae & Kang, Jangkoo & Lee, Changjun, 2020. "Do actively managed mutual funds exploit stock market mispricing?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
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    14. Bryant, Lonnie L. & Liu, Hao-Chen, 2011. "Mutual fund industry management structure, risk and the impacts to shareholders," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 101-115.
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