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The Persistence of Fee Dispersion among Mutual Funds
[The emerging landscape of retail e-commerce]

Author

Listed:
  • Michael J Cooper
  • Michael Halling
  • Wenhao Yang

Abstract

Previous work shows large differences in fees for S&P 500 index funds and other funds and suggests that investors suffer wealth losses investing in high-fee funds when similar low-fee funds are available. In contrast, the neoclassical model of mutual funds (Berk and van Binsbergen, 2015, J. Financ. Econ., 118, 1–20) argues that percentage fees are irrelevant, as fund size will adjust in equilibrium such that net alphas are equal to zero. We show that fees matter from an investor perspective. We document (i) a strong negative association between net-of-fee fund performance and fees in a sample of all US and international equity funds, (ii) economically large, robust, persistent, and pervasive fee dispersion in the mutual fund industry, and (iii) important economic effects for investors. During the sample period, the mutual fund industry has generated a total value lost (i.e., a negative net value added) of 125 billion USD, coming predominantly from high-fee funds.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael J Cooper & Michael Halling & Wenhao Yang, 2021. "The Persistence of Fee Dispersion among Mutual Funds [The emerging landscape of retail e-commerce]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 25(2), pages 365-402.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:revfin:v:25:y:2021:i:2:p:365-402.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/rof/rfaa023
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Hitzemann, Steffen & Sokolinski, Stanislav & Tai, Mingzhu, 2022. "Paying for beta: Leverage demand and asset management fees," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(1), pages 105-128.
    2. Fricke, Daniel & Greppmair, Stefan & Paludkiewicz, Karol, 2022. "You can't always get what you want (where you want it): Cross-border effects of the US money market fund reform," Discussion Papers 03/2022, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    3. Laurent Barras & Patrick Gagliardini & Olivier Scaillet, 2022. "Skill, Scale, and Value Creation in the Mutual Fund Industry," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(1), pages 601-638, February.
    4. Katarzyna Perez & £ukasz Szymczyk, 2022. "Actual rate of the management fee in mutual funds of different styles," Equilibrium. Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 17(4), pages 969-1014, December.
    5. Yue Xu, 2022. "Reallocation of Mutual Fund Managers and Capital Raising Ability," CREATES Research Papers 2022-11, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    6. Choi, Hae Mi & Gupta-Mukherjee, Swasti, 2022. "Price sensitivity of the consumer-investor: Evidence from energy prices and mutual fund fees," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    7. Yue Xu, 2021. "Spillovers of Senior Mutual Fund Managers’ Capital Raising Ability," CREATES Research Papers 2022-03, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mutual funds; Fund fees; Fund expenses; Price dispersion; Price persistence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • 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

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