IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v78y2025ics1544612325003381.html

The cost of misclassification in mutual funds

Author

Listed:
  • Fang, Fei
  • Parida, Sitikantha

Abstract

In March 2020, Morningstar revised its Low Carbon Designation (LCD) methodology. Before this revision, U.S. mutual funds were categorized into two groups: those meeting low-carbon thresholds (labeled as LCD funds) and those that did not (non-LCD funds), which were perceived as high-carbon funds. Crucially, many funds lacking available carbon metrics were not categorized separately from non-LCD funds, resulting in their misclassification and the mistaken perception of being high-carbon funds. The updated methodology introduced a third category—missing rating funds—to represent funds for which the LCD could not be determined. Our analysis reveals that the failure to distinguish missing rating funds from non-LCD funds resulted in approximately $21.3 billion in lost flows to these funds compared to LCD funds over the three months preceding the revision. After the change, these previously misclassified funds experienced a significant recovery, attracting approximately $15.6 billion more than non-LCD funds within three months. Our findings highlight the substantial financial consequences of fund misclassification. They also reveal that investors respond strongly to fund ratings, even when inaccurate, suggesting a preference for ratings over underlying information.

Suggested Citation

  • Fang, Fei & Parida, Sitikantha, 2025. "The cost of misclassification in mutual funds," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:78:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325003381
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2025.107074
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612325003381
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2025.107074?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ghoul, Sadok El & Karoui, Aymen, 2021. "What's in a (Green) Name? The Consequences of Greening Fund Names on Fund Flows, Turnover, and Performance," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    2. Ľuboš Pástor & M Blair Vorsatz & Jeffrey Pontiff, 0. "Mutual Fund Performance and Flows during the COVID-19 Crisis," The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(4), pages 791-833.
    3. Kaniel, Ron & Parham, Robert, 2017. "WSJ Category Kings – The impact of media attention on consumer and mutual fund investment decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 337-356.
    4. Ivkovic, Zoran & Weisbenner, Scott, 2009. "Individual investor mutual fund flows," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 223-237, May.
    5. Fang, Fei & Parida, Sitikantha, 2024. "Climate policy regime change and mutual fund flows: Insights from the 2020 US election," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    6. Chong Huang & Fei Li & Xi Weng, 2020. "Star Ratings and the Incentives of Mutual Funds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(3), pages 1715-1765, June.
    7. Samuel M. Hartzmark & Abigail B. Sussman, 2019. "Do Investors Value Sustainability? A Natural Experiment Examining Ranking and Fund Flows," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(6), pages 2789-2837, December.
    8. Jonathan Reuter & Eric Zitzewitz, 2021. "How Much Does Size Erode Mutual Fund Performance? A Regression Discontinuity Approach [Mutual fund’s R2 as predictor of performance]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 25(5), pages 1395-1432.
    9. Marco Ceccarelli & Stefano Ramelli & Alexander F Wagner, 2024. "Low Carbon Mutual Funds," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 28(1), pages 45-74.
    10. 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.
    11. Renneboog, Luc & Ter Horst, Jenke & Zhang, Chendi, 2011. "Is ethical money financially smart? Nonfinancial attributes and money flows of socially responsible investment funds," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 562-588, October.
    12. Becker, Martin G. & Martin, Fabio & Walter, Andreas, 2022. "The power of ESG transparency: The effect of the new SFDR sustainability labels on mutual funds and individual investors," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 47(PB).
    13. Shu, Pei-Gi & Yeh, Yin-Hua & Yamada, Takeshi, 2002. "The behavior of Taiwan mutual fund investors--performance and fund flows," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 10(5), pages 583-600, November.
    14. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:5:p:1589-1622 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. 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.
    16. Mugerman, Yevgeny & Steinberg, Nadav & Wiener, Zvi, 2022. "The exclamation mark of Cain: Risk salience and mutual fund flows," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 134(C).
    17. José‐Miguel Gaspar & Massimo Massa & Pedro Matos, 2006. "Favoritism in Mutual Fund Families? Evidence on Strategic Cross‐Fund Subsidization," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(1), pages 73-104, February.
    18. 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.
    19. Fang, Fei & Parida, Sitikantha, 2022. "Sustainable mutual fund performance and flow in the recent years through the COVID-19 pandemic," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    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. Fang, Fei & Parida, Sitikantha, 2025. "Mutual fund investor response to climate activism: Evidence from the 2019 Global Climate Strike," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    2. 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).
    3. Fang, Dawei & Holmen, Martin & Mavruk, Taylan, 2021. "Meeting new peers: The effects of Morningstar category reassignment on fund flows and star ratings," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    4. Gantchev, Nickolay & Giannetti, Mariassunta & Li, Rachel, 2024. "Sustainability or performance? Ratings and fund managers’ incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    5. Jiang, Christine & Wang, Xianzhen, 2024. "Portfolio pumping and dumping among Chinese mutual fund companies," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    6. Aineas Mallios & Taylan Mavruk, 2025. "Do ESG funds engage in portfolio pumping to gain higher flows? An application of Benford's Law," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 1540-1563, April.
    7. Gibbon, Kayshani & Derwall, Jeroen & Gerritsen, Dirk & Koedijk, Kees, 2025. "Renaming with purpose: Investor response and fund manager behaviour after fund ESG renaming," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    8. Kevin Birk & Stefan Jacob & Marco Wilkens, 2025. "What attracts sustainable fund flows? Prospectus versus ratings," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 26(2), pages 216-237, March.
    9. Døskeland, Trond & Sjuve, André Wattø & Ørpetveit, Andreas, 2025. "Do fees matter? Investor’s sensitivity to active management fees," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    10. 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.
    11. Yevgeny Mugerman & Nadav Steinberg, 2024. "How Do Mutual Fund Management Fee Changes Impact Mutual Fund Flows," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2024.12, Bank of Israel.
    12. Claire Yurong Hong & Xiaomeng Lu & Jun Pan, 2025. "Fintech Platforms and Mutual Fund Distribution," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 71(1), pages 488-517, January.
    13. Rabab Abouarab & Tapas Mishra & Simon Wolfe, 2025. "Spotting Portfolio Greenwashing in Environmental Funds," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 197(4), pages 811-839, April.
    14. Mercedes Alda & Fernando Muñoz & María Vargas, 2024. "The power of ethical words," Business Ethics, the Environment & Responsibility, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(4), pages 547-567, October.
    15. Candelon, Bertrand & Hasse, Jean-Baptiste, 2026. "ESG Mutual Fund Attributes and Investor Behavior," LIDAM Discussion Papers LFIN 2026001, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Finance (LFIN).
    16. 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.
    17. Wang, Cheng & Han, Jing, 2023. "Prospect theory and mutual fund flows: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    18. Rakowski, David & Yamani, Ehab, 2021. "Endogeneity in the mutual fund flow–performance relationship: An instrumental variables solution," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 247-271.
    19. 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).
    20. Ali, Sara & Badshah, Ihsan & Demirer, Riza & Hegde, Prasad & Rognone, Lavinia, 2024. "Climate risk, ESG ratings, and the flow-performance relationship in mutual funds," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

    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:eee:finlet:v:78:y:2025:i:c:s1544612325003381. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    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.