IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aecrev/v105y2015i5p432-36.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Mutual Fund Asset Allocation Changes

Author

Listed:
  • Clemens Sialm
  • Laura Starks
  • Hanjiang Zhang

Abstract

In this paper we compare changes in asset allocations between mutual funds held in defined contribution pension plans and funds held by other investors. We investigate how flows into equity and fixed income mutual funds depend on macroeconomic conditions. We find that defined contribution plans react more sensitively to these conditions, suggesting effects on mutual fund managers and other investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Clemens Sialm & Laura Starks & Hanjiang Zhang, 2015. "Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Mutual Fund Asset Allocation Changes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 432-436, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:105:y:2015:i:5:p:432-36
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20151006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.p20151006
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/aer/data/10505/P2015_1006_data.zip
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/aer/ds/10505/P2015_1006_ds.zip
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. N. Bloom, 2016. "Fluctuations in uncertainty," Voprosy Ekonomiki, NP Voprosy Ekonomiki, issue 4.
    2. Maurer, Raimond & Mitchell, Olivia S. & Warshawsky, Mark J. (ed.), 2012. "Reshaping Retirement Security: Lessons from the Global Financial Crisis," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199660698.
    3. Richard H. Thaler & Shlomo Benartzi, 2001. "Naive Diversification Strategies in Defined Contribution Saving Plans," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 79-98, March.
    4. Jeffrey R. Brown & Nellie Liang & Scott Weisbenner, 2007. "Individual Account Investment Options and Portfolio Choice: Behavioral Lessons from 401(k) Plans," NBER Chapters, in: Public Policy and Retirement, Trans-Atlantic Public Economics Seminar (TAPES), pages 1992-2013, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Gur Huberman & Wei Jiang, 2006. "Offering versus Choice in 401(k) Plans: Equity Exposure and Number of Funds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(2), pages 763-801, April.
    6. Michael D. Hurd & Susann Rohwedder, 2010. "Effects of the Financial Crisis and Great Recession on American Households," NBER Working Papers 16407, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kuzmina, Olga & Kelly, Patrick & Gorovyy, Sergiy, 2020. "Does Secrecy Signal Skill? Characteristics and Performance of Secretive Hedge Funds," CEPR Discussion Papers 14873, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Dimmock, Stephen G. & Feng, Fan & Zhang, Huai, 2023. "Mutual funds' capital gains lock-in and earnings management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Chakravarty, Sugato & Ray, Rina, 2020. "On short-term institutional trading skill, behavioral biases, and liquidity need," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. Yousefi, Hamed & Najand, Mohammad, 2022. "Geographical diversification using ETFs: Multinational evidence from COVID-19 pandemic," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Kontoghiorghes, Alex, 2022. "Do personal taxes affect investment decisions and stock returns?," Bank of England working papers 988, Bank of England.
    6. Clemens Sialm & Hanjiang Zhang, 2020. "Tax‐Efficient Asset Management: Evidence from Equity Mutual Funds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(2), pages 735-777, April.
    7. Christopher P. Clifford & Jon A. Fulkerson & Russell Jame & Bradford D. Jordan, 2021. "Salience and Mutual Fund Investor Demand for Idiosyncratic Volatility," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(8), pages 5234-5254, August.
    8. Chan, Chia-Ying & Chen, Hsuan-Chi & Chiang, Yu Hsuan & Lai, Christine W., 2017. "Fund selection in target date funds," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 197-209.
    9. Magnus Dahlquist & Ofer Setty & Roine Vestman, 2018. "On the Asset Allocation of a Default Pension Fund," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(4), pages 1893-1936, August.
    10. Muñoz, Fernando & Vicente, Ruth, 2018. "Hindsight effect: What are the actual cash flow timing skills of mutual fund investors?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 181-193.
    11. Mao, Mike Qinghao & Wong, Ching Hin, 2022. "Why have target-date funds performed better in the COVID-19 selloff than the 2008 selloff?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    12. Tran, Anh & Wang, Pingle, 2023. "Barking up the wrong tree: Return-chasing in 401(k) plans," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(1), pages 69-90.
    13. Blake, David & Sarno, Lucio & Zinna, Gabriele, 2017. "The market for lemmings: The herding behavior of pension funds," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 17-39.
    14. Matteo Bonetti, 2021. "Pension Fund Equity Performance: Herding Does Not Pay Off," Working Papers 729, DNB.
    15. Barbu, Alexandru & Fricke, Christoph & ,, 2020. "Procyclical Asset Management and Bond Risk Premia," CEPR Discussion Papers 15123, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Alda, Mercedes, 2018. "A strategic fund family business decision: The pension fund liquidation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 248-265.
    17. Jennifer Huang & Kelsey D. Wei & Hong Yan, 2022. "Investor learning and mutual fund flows," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 51(3), pages 739-765, September.
    18. Kräussl, Roman & Oladiran, Tobi & Stefanova, Denitsa, 2023. "A review on ESG investing: Investors' expectations, beliefs and perceptions," CFS Working Paper Series 694, Center for Financial Studies (CFS).
    19. David Blanchett & Michael S. Finke & Jonathan Reuter, 2020. "Portfolio Delegation and 401(k) Plan Participant Responses to COVID-19," NBER Working Papers 27438, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Chen, Hsuan-Chi & Lai, Christine W. & Wu, Sheng-Ching, 2016. "Mutual fund selection and performance persistence in 401(k) Plans," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 78-100.
    21. Yong Chen & Nan Qin, 2017. "The Behavior of Investor Flows in Corporate Bond Mutual Funds," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(5), pages 1365-1384, May.
    22. Jiang, George J. & Yuksel, H. Zafer, 2017. "What drives the “Smart-Money” effect? Evidence from investors’ money flow to mutual fund classes," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 39-58.

    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. Gerrans, Paul & Yap, Ghialy, 2014. "Retirement savings investment choices: Sophisticated or naive?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 233-250.
    2. Amromin, Gene & Huang, Jennifer & Sialm, Clemens, 2007. "The tradeoff between mortgage prepayments and tax-deferred retirement savings," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(10), pages 2014-2040, November.
    3. Gürdal, Mehmet Y. & Kuzubaş, Tolga U. & Saltoğlu, Burak, 2017. "Measures of individual risk attitudes and portfolio choice: Evidence from pension participants," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 186-203.
    4. Yan, Cheng & Zhang, Huazhu, 2017. "Mean-variance versus naïve diversification: The role of mispricing," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 61-81.
    5. Zhi Da & Borja Larrain & Clemens Sialm & José Tessada, 2016. "Coordinated Noise Trading: Evidence from Pension Fund Reallocations," NBER Working Papers 22161, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Butt, Adam & Donald, M. Scott & Foster, F. Douglas & Thorp, Susan & Warren, Geoffrey J., 2018. "One size fits all? Tailoring retirement plan defaults," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 546-566.
    7. Wang-Ly, Nathan & Bateman, Hazel & Dobrescu, Isabella & Newell, Ben R. & Thorp, Susan, 2022. "Defaults, disclosures, advice and calculators: One size does not fit all," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    8. Veronika K. Pool & Clemens Sialm & Irina Stefanescu, 2016. "It Pays to Set the Menu: Mutual Fund Investment Options in 401(k) Plans," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(4), pages 1779-1812, August.
    9. Iyengar, Sheena S. & Kamenica, Emir, 2010. "Choice proliferation, simplicity seeking, and asset allocation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(7-8), pages 530-539, August.
    10. Keane, M.P. & Thorp, S., 2016. "Complex Decision Making," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 661-709, Elsevier.
    11. Hazel Bateman & Christine Eckert & John Geweke & Jordan Louviere & Stephen Satchell & Susan Thorp, 2016. "Risk Presentation and Portfolio Choice," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 20(1), pages 201-229.
    12. Michael P. Keane & Susan Thorp, 2016. "Complex Decision Making: The Roles of Cognitive Limitations, Cognitive Decline and Ageing," Economics Papers 2016-W10, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    13. Beshears, John & Choi, James J. & Laibson, David & Madrian, Brigitte C., 2011. "Behavioral economics perspectives on public sector pension plans," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 315-336, April.
    14. Stefano DellaVigna, 2009. "Psychology and Economics: Evidence from the Field," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 315-372, June.
    15. Nicolas Aubert & Thomas Rapp, 2010. "Employee's investment behaviors in a company based savings plan," Finance, Presses universitaires de Grenoble, vol. 31(1), pages 5-32.
    16. Jeff Dominitz & Angela Hung, 2006. "Retirement Savings Portfolio Management," Working Papers wp138, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    17. Thorp, S. & Bateman, H. & Dobrescu, L.I. & Newell, B.R. & Ortmann, A., 2020. "Flicking the switch: Simplifying disclosure to improve retirement plan choices," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    18. J. de Dreu & J.A. Bikker, 2009. "Pension fund sophistication and investment policy," Working Papers 09-13, Utrecht School of Economics.
    19. Francisco Gomes & Michael Haliassos & Tarun Ramadorai, 2021. "Household Finance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(3), pages 919-1000, September.
    20. Michael Curran & Patrick O'Sullivan & Ryan Zalla, 2020. "Can Volatility Solve the Naive Portfolio Puzzle?," Papers 2005.03204, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2022.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions

    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:aea:aecrev:v:105:y:2015:i:5:p:432-36. 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: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    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.