IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/eufman/v18y2012i4p649-662.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Performance of European Index Funds and Exchange†Traded Funds

Author

Listed:
  • David Blitz
  • Joop Huij
  • Laurens Swinkels

Abstract

European index funds and exchange†traded funds underperform their benchmarks by 50 to 150 basis points per annum. The explanatory power of dividend withholding taxes as a determinant of this underperformance is at least on par with fund expenses. Dividend taxes also explain performance differences between funds that track different benchmarks and time variation in fund performance. Our results imply that not only fund expenses, but also dividend taxes can result in a substantial drag on mutual fund performance.

Suggested Citation

  • David Blitz & Joop Huij & Laurens Swinkels, 2012. "The Performance of European Index Funds and Exchange†Traded Funds," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 18(4), pages 649-662, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:eufman:v:18:y:2012:i:4:p:649-662
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-036X.2010.00550.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-036X.2010.00550.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1468-036X.2010.00550.x?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James M. Poterba & John B. Shoven, 2002. "Exchange-Traded Funds: A New Investment Option for Taxable Investors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 422-427, May.
    2. Sofia B. Ramos, 2009. "The Size and Structure of the World Mutual Fund Industry," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 15(1), pages 145-180, January.
    3. Roger Otten & Dennis Bams, 2002. "European Mutual Fund Performance," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 8(1), pages 75-101, March.
    4. Timo P. Korkeamaki & Thomas I. Smythe, 2004. "Effects of Market Segmentation and Bank Concentration on Mutual Fund Expenses and Returns: Evidence from Finland," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 10(3), pages 413-438, September.
    5. Edwin J. Elton & Martin J. Gruber & Jeffrey A. Busse, 2004. "Are Investors Rational? Choices among Index Funds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(1), pages 261-288, February.
    6. Rogér Otten & Dennis Bams, 2007. "The Performance of Local versus Foreign Mutual Fund Managers," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 13(4), pages 702-720, September.
    7. Edwin J. Elton, 2002. "Spiders: Where Are the Bugs?," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 75(3), pages 453-472, July.
    8. Jonathan Fletcher & Andrew Marshall, 2005. "The Performance of UK International Unit Trusts," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 11(3), pages 365-386, June.
    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. Hassan, Kamrul & Hoque, Ariful & Gasbarro, Dominic & Wong, Wing-Keung, 2023. "Are Islamic stocks immune from financial crises? Evidence from contagion tests," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 919-948.
    2. Dobson, Peter, 2020. "ETFs tracking errors on global markets with consideration of regional diversity," MPRA Paper 103695, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Czereszenko, Witalij, 2021. "Pursuing the aim of Exchange Traded Funds at the time of Covid-19," MPRA Paper 111319, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Patrick Kuok-Kun Chu, 2016. "Analysis and Forecast of Tracking Performance of Hong Kong Exchange-Traded Funds: Evidence from Tracker Fund and X iShares A50," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(04), pages 1-26, December.
    5. António Afonso & Pedro Cardoso, 2017. "Exchange-traded Funds as an Alternative Investment Option: a Case Study," Working Papers REM 2017/22, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    6. Emilio Ricardo Carvalhais & Antonio Marcos Duarte Júnior, 2015. "Indexation of Fixed-Income Portfolios to the IMA-B," Brazilian Business Review, Fucape Business School, vol. 12(3), pages 116-142, May.
    7. Jaspal Singh & Prabhdeep Kaur, 2016. "Tracking Efficiency of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)," Paradigm, , vol. 20(2), pages 176-190, December.
    8. Chen, Mei-Ping & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Hsu, Yi-Chung, 2017. "Investor sentiment and country exchange traded funds: Does economic freedom matter?," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 285-299.
    9. S. Narend & M. Thenmozhi, 2019. "Do Country ETFs Influence Foreign Stock Market Index? Evidence from India ETFs," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 18(1_suppl), pages 59-86, April.
    10. Kunal Saha & Vinodh Madhavan & G. R. Chandrashekhar, 2022. "Effect of COVID-19 on ETF and index efficiency: evidence from an entropy-based analysis," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 46(2), pages 347-359, April.
    11. Ana C. Díaz†Mendoza & Germán López†Espinosa & Miguel A. Martínez, 2014. "The Efficiency of Performance†Based Fee Funds," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 20(4), pages 825-855, September.

    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. Ana C. Díaz†Mendoza & Germán López†Espinosa & Miguel A. Martínez, 2014. "The Efficiency of Performance†Based Fee Funds," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 20(4), pages 825-855, September.
    2. Sebastian Müller & Martin Weber, 2014. "Evaluating the Rating of Stiftung Warentest: How Good Are Mutual Fund Ratings and Can They Be Improved?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 20(2), pages 207-235, March.
    3. Elton, Edwin J. & Gruber, Martin J., 2013. "Mutual Funds," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1011-1061, Elsevier.
    4. Stephanie E. Lang & Klaus Röder, 2008. "Die Kosten des Indextrackings — Eine Fallstudie über den Exchange Traded Fund DAX®EX," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 298-321, May.
    5. Gerasimos G Rompotis, 2012. "Does the law of one price apply to dually listed ETFs belonging to the same family? Evidence from iShares," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 13(6), pages 401-420, December.
    6. Ioannis D Vrontos & Loukia Meligkotsidou & Spyridon D Vrontos, 2011. "Performance evaluation of mutual fund investments: The impact of non-normality and time-varying volatility," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(4), pages 292-307, September.
    7. Zia-ur-Rehman Rao & Tanveer Ahsan & Muhammad Zubair Tauni & Muhammad Umar, 2018. "Performance and Persistence in Performance of Actively Managed Chinese Equity Funds," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 16(3), pages 727-747, September.
    8. Elton, Edwin J. & Gruber, Martin J. & de Souza, Andre, 2019. "Passive mutual funds and ETFs: Performance and comparison," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 265-275.
    9. Paulo ALVES, 2015. "The Fees Of Mutual Funds And Real Estate Funds Their Determinants In A Small Market," Journal of Advanced Studies in Finance, ASERS Publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 20-28.
    10. Mark Grinblatt & Seppo Ikäheimo & Matti Keloharju & Samuli Knüpfer, 2016. "IQ and Mutual Fund Choice," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(4), pages 924-944, April.
    11. Jack W Aber & Dan Li & Luc Can, 2009. "Price volatility and tracking ability of ETFs," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(4), pages 210-221, October.
    12. Alves, Paulo, 2016. "The Expenses of Real Estate Funds in a Small Market: Their Determinants," MPRA Paper 83275, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Shin, Sangheon & Soydemir, Gökçe, 2010. "Exchange-traded funds, persistence in tracking errors and information dissemination," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 20(4-5), pages 214-234, December.
    14. Chris GROSE & Theodoros KARGIDIS, 2012. "Persistence In Performance For Mutual Funds In Periods Of Crisis," Scientific Bulletin - Economic Sciences, University of Pitesti, vol. 11(1), pages 85-98.
    15. Agapova, Anna, 2011. "Conventional mutual index funds versus exchange-traded funds," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 323-343, May.
    16. Gerasimos G. Rompotis, 2011. "ETFs vs. Mutual Funds: Evidence from the Greek Market," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 9(1), pages 67-84.
    17. Keith Cuthbertson & Dirk Nitzsche & Niall O'Sullivan, 2012. "False Discoveries in UK Mutual Fund Performance," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 18(3), pages 444-463, June.
    18. R. Shanmugham & Zabiulla, 2012. "Pricing Efficiency of Nifty BeES in Bullish and Bearish Markets," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 13(1), pages 109-121, February.
    19. Alexander, C. & Barbosa, A., 2008. "Hedging index exchange traded funds," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 326-337, February.
    20. Bechmann, Ken L. & Rangvid, Jesper, 2007. "Rating mutual funds: Construction and information content of an investor-cost based rating of Danish mutual funds," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 662-693, December.

    More about this item

    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:bla:eufman:v:18:y:2012:i:4:p:649-662. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/efmaaea.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.