IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/intfin/v35y2015icp116-131.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The performance of diversified emerging market equity funds

Author

Listed:
  • Basu, Anup K.
  • Huang-Jones, Jason

Abstract

We investigate the performance of globally diversified emerging market equity funds during the first decade of the twenty-first century. A vast majority of these funds do not outperform the market benchmark even before transaction costs. The systematic risk of most of the funds is similar to that of the market benchmark portfolio, which may suggest that they aim to offer diversification benefits rather than seeking superior risk-adjusted returns through active management. We do not find any evidence of market timing ability amongst these funds. Finally, whilst we detect persistence in performance, this result is driven mainly by the poorly performing funds.

Suggested Citation

  • Basu, Anup K. & Huang-Jones, Jason, 2015. "The performance of diversified emerging market equity funds," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 116-131.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intfin:v:35:y:2015:i:c:p:116-131
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intfin.2015.01.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1042443115000037
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intfin.2015.01.002?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael C. Jensen, 1968. "The Performance Of Mutual Funds In The Period 1945–1964," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 23(2), pages 389-416, May.
    2. Roger Otten & Dennis Bams, 2002. "European Mutual Fund Performance," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 8(1), pages 75-101, March.
    3. Henriksson, Roy D & Merton, Robert C, 1981. "On Market Timing and Investment Performance. II. Statistical Procedures for Evaluating Forecasting Skills," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 513-533, October.
    4. Russ Wermers, 2000. "Mutual Fund Performance: An Empirical Decomposition into Stock-Picking Talent, Style, Transactions Costs, and Expenses," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1655-1703, August.
    5. S. P. Kothari & Jerold B. Warner, 2001. "Evaluating Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(5), pages 1985-2010, October.
    6. Javier Gil‐Bazo & Pablo Ruiz‐Verdú, 2009. "The Relation between Price and Performance in the Mutual Fund Industry," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(5), pages 2153-2183, October.
    7. Brown, Stephen J & Goetzmann, William N, 1995. "Performance Persistence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(2), pages 679-698, June.
    8. Eduardo Borensztein & R. Gaston Gelos, 2003. "A Panic-Prone Pack? The Behavior of Emerging Market Mutual Funds," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 50(1), pages 1-3.
    9. Karemera, David & Ojah, Kalu & Cole, John A, 1999. "Random Walks and Market Efficiency Tests: Evidence from Emerging Equity Markets," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 171-188, September.
    10. Juan C. Matallín-Sáez, 2006. "Seasonality, Market Timing and Performance Amongst Benchmarks and Mutual Fund Evaluation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(9-10), pages 1484-1507.
    11. Bialkowski, Jedrzej & Otten, Roger, 2011. "Emerging market mutual fund performance: Evidence for Poland," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 118-130, August.
    12. Daniel, Kent, et al, 1997. "Measuring Mutual Fund Performance with Characteristic-Based Benchmarks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1035-1058, July.
    13. Grinblatt, Mark & Titman, Sheridan D, 1989. "Mutual Fund Performance: An Analysis of Quarterly Portfolio Holdings," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62(3), pages 393-416, July.
    14. William Droms & David Walker, 2001. "Persistence of mutual fund operating characteristics: returns, turnover rates, and expense ratios," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(4), pages 457-466.
    15. Shukla, Ravi K. & van Inwegen, Gregory B., 1995. "Do locals perform better than foreigners?: An analysis of UK and US mutual fund managers," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 241-254, August.
    16. Richard A. Ippolito, 1989. "Efficiency with Costly Information: A Study of Mutual Fund Performance, 1965–1984," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 104(1), pages 1-23.
    17. Cesari, Riccardo & Panetta, Fabio, 2002. "The performance of Italian equity funds," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 99-126, January.
    18. Chang, Eric & Eun, Cheol S. & Kolodny, Richard, 1995. "International diversification through closed-end country funds," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 1237-1263, October.
    19. Keith Cuthbertson & Dirk Nitzsche & Niall O'Sullivan, 2010. "The Market Timing Ability of UK Mutual Funds," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1-2), pages 270-289.
    20. Lai, Ming-Ming & Lau, Siok-Hwa, 2010. "Evaluating mutual fund performance in an emerging Asian economy: The Malaysian experience," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 378-390, August.
    21. John M. Griffin & Patrick J. Kelly & Federico Nardari, 2010. "Do Market Efficiency Measures Yield Correct Inferences? A Comparison of Developed and Emerging Markets," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(8), pages 3225-3277, August.
    22. Cai, Jun & Chan, K C & Yamada, Takeshi, 1997. "The Performance of Japanese Mutual Funds," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(2), pages 237-273.
    23. Huij, Joop & Post, Thierry, 2011. "On the performance of emerging market equity mutual funds," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 238-249, September.
    24. Asma Mobarek & A. Sabur Mollah & Rafiqul Bhuyan, 2008. "Market Efficiency in Emerging Stock Market," Journal of Emerging Market Finance, Institute for Financial Management and Research, vol. 7(1), pages 17-41, January.
    25. Chan, Kalok & Hameed, Allaudeen, 2006. "Stock price synchronicity and analyst coverage in emerging markets," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 115-147, April.
    26. Abugri, Benjamin A. & Dutta, Sandip, 2009. "Emerging market hedge funds: Do they perform like regular hedge funds?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 834-849, December.
    27. Ojah, Kalu & Karemera, David, 1999. "Random Walks and Market Efficiency Tests of Latin American Emerging Equity Markets: A Revisit," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 34(2), pages 57-72, May.
    28. Martijn Cremers & Antti Petajisto & Eric Zitzewitz, 2008. "Should Benchmark Indices Have Alpha? Revisiting Performance," Yale School of Management Working Papers amz2452, Yale School of Management, revised 26 Jan 2010.
    29. Mitchell Ratner & Ricardo P. C. Leal, 2005. "Sector Integration and the Benefits of Global Diversification," Multinational Finance Journal, Multinational Finance Journal, vol. 9(3-4), pages 237-269, September.
    30. Graciela L. Kaminsky & Richard K. Lyons & Sergio L. Schmukler, 2001. "Mutual Fund Investment in Emerging Markets: An Overview," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 15(2), pages 315-31-340.
    31. Eling, Martin & Faust, Roger, 2010. "The performance of hedge funds and mutual funds in emerging markets," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1993-2009, August.
    32. Kotkatvuori-Örnberg, Juha & Nikkinen, Jussi & Peltomäki, Jarkko, 2011. "Geographical focus in emerging markets and hedge fund performance," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 309-320.
    33. David Blake & Allan Timmermann, 1998. "Mutual Fund Performance: Evidence from the UK," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 2(1), pages 57-77.
    34. Elton, Edwin J, et al, 1993. "Efficiency with Costly Information: A Reinterpretation of Evidence from Managed Portfolios," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 6(1), pages 1-22.
    35. Lehmann, Bruce N & Modest, David M, 1987. "Mutual Fund Performance Evaluation: A Comparison of Benchmarks and Benchmark Comparisons," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 42(2), pages 233-265, June.
    36. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    37. Nicolas P. B. Bollen, 2005. "Short-Term Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 18(2), pages 569-597.
    38. Malkiel, Burton G, 1995. "Returns from Investing in Equity Mutual Funds 1971 to 1991," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(2), pages 549-572, June.
    39. Wiston Adrian Risso, 2009. "The informational efficiency: the emerging markets versus the developed markets," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 485-487.
    40. Abel, Ernest & Fletcher, Jonathan, 2004. "An empirical examination of UK emerging market unit trust performance," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 389-408, December.
    41. Graciela L. Kaminsky & Richard K. Lyons & Sergio L. Schmukler, 2001. "Mutual Fund Investment in Emerging Markets: An Overview," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 15(2), pages 315-31-340.
    42. 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.
    43. Blitz, David & Huij, Joop, 2012. "Evaluating the performance of global emerging markets equity exchange-traded funds," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 149-158.
    44. Nicolas P. B. Bollen & Jeffrey A. Busse, 2001. "On the Timing Ability of Mutual Fund Managers," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(3), pages 1075-1094, June.
    45. Andreas Charitou & Andreas Makris & George P. Nishiotis, 2006. "Closed-End Country Funds and International Diversification," Multinational Finance Journal, Multinational Finance Journal, vol. 10(3-4), pages 251-276, September.
    46. Cumby, Robert E & Glen, Jack D, 1990. "Evaluating the Performance of International Mutual Funds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 45(2), pages 497-521, June.
    47. Cuthbertson, Keith & Nitzsche, Dirk, 2013. "Performance, stock selection and market timing of the German equity mutual fund industry," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 86-101.
    48. Keith Cuthbertson & Dirk Nitzsche & Niall O'Sullivan, 2010. "The Market Timing Ability of UK Mutual Funds," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1‐2), pages 270-289, January.
    49. Hendricks, Darryll & Patel, Jayendu & Zeckhauser, Richard, 1993. "Hot Hands in Mutual Funds: Short-Run Persistence of Relative Performance, 1974-1988," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(1), pages 93-130, March.
    50. Elton, Edwin J & Gruber, Martin J & Blake, Christopher R, 1996. "The Persistence of Risk-Adjusted Mutual Fund Performance," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(2), pages 133-157, April.
    51. Hayat, Raphie & Kraeussl, Roman, 2011. "Risk and return characteristics of Islamic equity funds," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 189-203, 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. Mohammad, Nazeeruddin & Ashraf, Dawood, 2015. "The market timing ability and return performance of Islamic equities: An empirical study," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 169-183.
    2. Azra Zaimovic & Adna Omanovic & Almira Arnaut-Berilo, 2021. "How Many Stocks Are Sufficient for Equity Portfolio Diversification? A Review of the Literature," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-30, November.
    3. Wagner, Moritz & Margaritis, Dimitris, 2017. "All about fun(ds) in emerging markets? The case of equity mutual funds," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 62-78.
    4. Bernardo, Márcio R. & Campani, Carlos Heitor, 2019. "Liability driven investment with alternative assets: Evidence from Brazil," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    5. Božović, Miloš, 2022. "Recent evidence on the short-term and long-term performance persistence of emerging-market mutual fund returns," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).

    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. Božović, Miloš, 2022. "Recent evidence on the short-term and long-term performance persistence of emerging-market mutual fund returns," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Anjum, Sohail & Qayyum, Unbreen & Qureshi, Madeeha Gohar, 2019. "Aggregate performance evaluation of US Equity Mutual Funds - Explaining the performance of Growth Funds vs. Value Funds," MPRA Paper 100043, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Amporn SOONGSWANG & Yosawee SANOHDONTREE, 2011. "Equity Mutual Fund: Performances, Persistence and Fund Rankings," Journal of Knowledge Management, Economics and Information Technology, ScientificPapers.org, vol. 1(6), pages 1-27, October.
    4. Roberto Casarin & Andrea Piva & Loriana Pelizzon, 2008. "Italian Equity Funds: Efficiency and Performance Persistence," The IUP Journal of Financial Economics, IUP Publications, vol. 0(1), pages 7-28, March.
    5. 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.
    6. Capocci, Daniel & Hubner, Georges, 2004. "Analysis of hedge fund performance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 55-89, January.
    7. Luis Vicente & Luis Ferruz, 2005. "Performance persistence in Spanish equity funds," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(18), pages 1305-1313.
    8. Bangassa, Kenbata & Su, Chen & Joseph, Nathan L., 2012. "Selectivity and timing performance of UK investment trusts," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 1149-1175.
    9. Dong‐Hyun Ahn & H. Henry Cao & Stéphane Chrétien, 2009. "Portfolio Performance Measurement: a No Arbitrage Bounds Approach," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 15(2), pages 298-339, March.
    10. Matallín-Sáez, Juan Carlos & Soler-Domínguez, Amparo & Tortosa-Ausina, Emili, 2016. "On the robustness of persistence in mutual fund performance," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 192-231.
    11. Andrew Clare & Mariana Clare, 2019. "An examination of ex ante fund performance: identifying indicators of future performance," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 20(3), pages 175-195, May.
    12. Christensen, Michael, 2005. "Danish Mutual Fund Performance - Selectivity, Market Timing and Persistence," Finance Research Group Working Papers F-2005-01, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Business Studies.
    13. Fadillah Mansor & M. Ishaq Bhatti & Shafiqur Rahman & Hung Quang Do, 2020. "The Investment Performance of Ethical Equity Funds in Malaysia," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-14, September.
    14. Vidal-García, Javier & Vidal, Marta & Boubaker, Sabri & Uddin, Gazi Salah, 2016. "The short-term persistence of international mutual fund performance," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 52(PB), pages 926-938.
    15. Hung, Pi-Hsia & Lien, Donald & Kuo, Ming-Sin, 2020. "Window dressing in equity mutual funds," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 338-354.
    16. Ekholm, Anders G., 2012. "Portfolio returns and manager activity: How to decompose tracking error into security selection and market timing," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 349-358.
    17. Veeravel. V & A. Balakrishnan, 2023. "Persistence of Large-Cap Equity Funds performance, market timing ability, and selectivity: evidence from India," Asia-Pacific Financial Markets, Springer;Japanese Association of Financial Economics and Engineering, vol. 30(1), pages 37-48, March.
    18. 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.
    19. Miguel A. Ferreira & Aneel Keswani & António F. Miguel & Sofia B. Ramos, 2013. "The Determinants of Mutual Fund Performance: A Cross-Country Study," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 17(2), pages 483-525.
    20. 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.

    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:intfin:v:35:y:2015:i:c:p:116-131. 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/intfin .

    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.