IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/finmgt/v54y2025i3p519-548.html

Too naïve to NAV? Performance display and capital misallocation

Author

Listed:
  • Honglin Ren
  • Haibei Zhao

Abstract

We find that mutual fund flows respond to price returns (changes in net asset value per share or NAV returns) that are widely displayed in practice, whereas total fund returns include both price returns and fund distributions. NAV return‐chasing is not driven by tax considerations or alternative performance and risk metrics and leads to suboptimal investment performance. Additionally, NAV return‐chasing generates price pressure on funds’ stock holdings. These findings suggest that more prevalent displays of total investment returns could improve investor decision‐making, especially for less sophisticated investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Honglin Ren & Haibei Zhao, 2025. "Too naïve to NAV? Performance display and capital misallocation," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 54(3), pages 519-548, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:finmgt:v:54:y:2025:i:3:p:519-548
    DOI: 10.1111/fima.12486
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/fima.12486
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/fima.12486?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. Joseph Chen & Harrison Hong & Ming Huang & Jeffrey D. Kubik, 2004. "Does Fund Size Erode Mutual Fund Performance? The Role of Liquidity and Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1276-1302, December.
    2. Harris, Lawrence E. & Hartzmark, Samuel M. & Solomon, David H., 2015. "Juicing the dividend yield: Mutual funds and the demand for dividends," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(3), pages 433-451.
    3. Brad M. Barber & Xing Huang & Terrance Odean, 2016. "Which Factors Matter to Investors? Evidence from Mutual Fund Flows," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(10), pages 2600-2642.
    4. Fuller, Kathleen P. & Goldstein, Michael A., 2011. "Do dividends matter more in declining markets?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 457-473, June.
    5. James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian, 2011. "$100 Bills on the Sidewalk: Suboptimal Investment in 401(k) Plans," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 93(3), pages 748-763, August.
    6. Christopher P. Clifford & Jon A. Fulkerson & Bradford D. Jordan, 2014. "What Drives ETF Flows?," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 49(3), pages 619-642, August.
    7. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    8. Michael J. Cooper & Huseyin Gulen & P. Raghavendra Rau, 2005. "Changing Names with Style: Mutual Fund Name Changes and Their Effects on Fund Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2825-2858, December.
    9. Swasti Gupta‐Mukherjee & Ankur Pareek, 2020. "Limited attention and portfolio choice: The impact of attention allocation on mutual fund performance," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 49(4), pages 1083-1125, December.
    10. Richard Evans & Javier Gil‐Bazo & Marc Lipson, 2024. "Mutual fund performance and manager assets: The negative effect of outside holdings," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 53(1), pages 3-29, March.
    11. Markus S. Broman & Pauline Shum, 2018. "Relative Liquidity, Fund Flows and Short†Term Demand: Evidence from Exchange†Traded Funds," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 53(1), pages 87-115, February.
    12. Guercio, Diane Del & Tkac, Paula A., 2008. "Star Power: The Effect of Monrningstar Ratings on Mutual Fund Flow," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(4), pages 907-936, December.
    13. Nikolai Roussanov & Hongxun Ruan & Yanhao Wei & Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, 2021. "Marketing Mutual Funds," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(6), pages 3045-3094.
    14. Vikas Agarwal & Honglin Ren & Ke Shen & Haibei Zhao, 2023. "Redemption in Kind and Mutual Fund Liquidity Management," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 36(6), pages 2274-2318.
    15. Edward A. Dyl, 2006. "The Share Price Puzzle," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(4), pages 2045-2066, July.
    16. Benartzi, Shlomo & Thaler, Richard H & Utkus, Stephen P & Sunstein, Cass R, 2007. "The Law and Economics of Company Stock in 401(k) Plans," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50(1), pages 45-79, February.
    17. Li Jin, 2006. "Capital Gains Tax Overhang and Price Pressure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(3), pages 1399-1431, June.
    18. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    19. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:5:p:1589-1622 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Itzhak Ben-David & Jiacui Li & Andrea Rossi & Yang Song, 2022. "What Do Mutual Fund Investors Really Care About?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(4), pages 1723-1774.
    21. Pastor, Lubos & Stambaugh, Robert F., 2003. "Liquidity Risk and Expected Stock Returns," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(3), pages 642-685, June.
    22. Gjergji Cici & Alexander Kempf & Christoph Sorhage, 2017. "Do Financial Advisors Provide Tangible Benefits for Investors? Evidence from Tax-Motivated Mutual Fund Flows," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 21(2), pages 637-665.
    23. Ralph S. J. Koijen & Motohiro Yogo, 2019. "A Demand System Approach to Asset Pricing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(4), pages 1475-1515.
    24. Coval, Joshua & Stafford, Erik, 2007. "Asset fire sales (and purchases) in equity markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(2), pages 479-512, November.
    25. Birru, Justin & Wang, Baolian, 2016. "Nominal price illusion," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(3), pages 578-598.
    26. Julie Agnew & Pierluigi Balduzzi & Annika Sundén, 2003. "Portfolio Choice and Trading in a Large 401(k) Plan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 193-215, March.
    27. Richard B Evans & Yang Sun & Lauren Cohen, 2021. "Models or Stars: The Role of Asset Pricing Models and Heuristics in Investor Risk Adjustment," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 34(1), pages 67-107.
    28. James J. Choi & David Laibson & Brigitte C. Madrian, 2009. "Mental Accounting in Portfolio Choice: Evidence from a Flypaper Effect," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(5), pages 2085-2095, December.
    29. Chen, Qi & Goldstein, Itay & Jiang, Wei, 2010. "Payoff complementarities and financial fragility: Evidence from mutual fund outflows," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 239-262, August.
    30. Richard B. Evans, 2010. "Mutual Fund Incubation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(4), pages 1581-1611, August.
    31. Richard B Evans & Yang Sun, 2021. "Models or Stars: The Role of Asset Pricing Models and Heuristics in Investor Risk Adjustment [Which factors matter to investors? evidence from mutual fund flows]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(1), pages 67-107.
    32. Samuel M Hartzmark & David H Solomon, 2022. "Reconsidering Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(1), pages 343-393.
    33. Shleifer, Andrei, 1986. "Do Demand Curves for Stocks Slope Down?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 41(3), pages 579-590, July.
    34. Bergstresser, Daniel & Poterba, James, 2002. "Do after-tax returns affect mutual fund inflows?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 381-414, March.
    35. Jonathan B. Berk & Richard C. Green, 2004. "Mutual Fund Flows and Performance in Rational Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(6), pages 1269-1295, December.
    36. 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.
    37. Christoffersen, Susan E.K. & Geczy, Christopher C. & Musto, David K. & Reed, Adam V., 2005. "Crossborder dividend taxation and the preferences of taxable and nontaxable investors: Evidence from Canada," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 121-144, October.
    38. Samuel M. Hartzmark & David H. Solomon, 2019. "The Dividend Disconnect," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(5), pages 2153-2199, October.
    39. Itzhak Ben-David & Jiacui Li & Andrea Rossi & Yang Song, 2022. "Ratings-Driven Demand and Systematic Price Fluctuations," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(6), pages 2790-2838.
    40. Clemens Sialm & Laura Starks, 2012. "Mutual Fund Tax Clienteles," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(4), pages 1397-1422, August.
    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. Clemens Sialm & Laura T. Starks & Hanjiang Zhang, 2015. "Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Sticky or Discerning Money?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(2), pages 805-838, April.
    2. 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.
    3. Beggs, William & Hill-Kleespie, Austin & Liu, Yanguang, 2022. "Mutual fund tax implications when investment advisors manage tax-exempt separate accounts," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    4. Victor DeMiguel & Javier Gil-Bazo & Francisco J. Nogales & André A. P. Santos, 2021. "Can machine learning help to select portfolios of mutual funds?," Economics Working Papers 1772, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    5. repec:bge:wpaper:1245 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Alper Darendeli, 2025. "How do retail investors respond to summary disclosure? Evidence from mutual fund factsheets," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 1222-1266, June.
    7. Malik, Ali K. & Colak, Gonul & Löflund, Anders, 2024. "Gold, platinum, and mutual fund flows," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    8. Ali K. Malik, 2026. "Exposure to Left‐Tail Risk, Risk Appetite, and Mutual Fund Flows," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 61(3), pages 831-866, August.
    9. Dang, Thuy Duong & Hollstein, Fabian & Prokopczuk, Marcel, 2022. "How do corporate bond investors measure performance? Evidence from mutual fund flows," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    10. Bessler, Wolfgang & Blake, David & Lückoff, Peter & Tonks, Ian, 2010. "Why does mutual fund performance not persist? The impact and interaction of fund flows and manager changes," MPRA Paper 34185, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Shan, Junhui & Xiang, Rui & Liu, Li & Zhang, Chaoyi & Zhang, Ping, 2025. "Cross-section return dispersion and flow-performance sensitivity: Evidence from Chinese mutual fund," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Jacobs, Heiko & Lauber, Alexander, 2026. "Media reporting and asset pricing models," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    13. Chang, Xiaochen & Guo, Songlin & Huang, Junkai, 2022. "Kidnapped mutual funds: Irrational preference of naive investors and fund incentive distortion," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    14. Kronlund, Mathias & Pool, Veronika K. & Sialm, Clemens & Stefanescu, Irina, 2021. "Out of sight no more? The effect of fee disclosures on 401(k) investment allocations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 644-668.
    15. Aragon, George O. & Kim, Min S., 2023. "Fire sale risk and expected stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(3), pages 578-609.
    16. Martin Rohleder & Dominik Schulte & Janik Syryca & Marco Wilkens, 2018. "Mutual Fund Stock†Picking Skill: New Evidence from Valuation†versus Liquidity†Motivated Trading," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 47(2), pages 309-347, June.
    17. Chen, Huaizhi, 2025. "Diversification driven demand for large stock," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    18. Dekker, Lennart, 2024. "Essays on asset liquidity and investment funds," Other publications TiSEM 5fc9bf77-84e7-4a36-9e3a-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    19. Omori, Kozo & Kitamura, Tomoki, 2023. "Investor response to Morningstar's ratings, category information, and alpha in the Japanese mutual fund market," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    20. Nanda, Vikram K. & Wang, Z. Jay & Zheng, Lu, 2009. "The ABCs of mutual funds: On the introduction of multiple share classes," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 329-361, July.
    21. DeMiguel, Victor & Gil-Bazo, Javier & Nogales, Francisco J. & Santos, André A.P., 2023. "Machine learning and fund characteristics help to select mutual funds with positive alpha," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(3).

    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:finmgt:v:54:y:2025:i:3:p:519-548. 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/fmaaaea.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.