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Selling winners, holding losers: Effect on fund flows and survival of disposition-prone mutual funds

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  • Singal, Vijay
  • Xu, Zhaojin

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that presence of a disposition effect in a large subset of investors can create stock mispricings, which has serious implications for market efficiency. We examine whether US equity mutual funds are disposition-prone, how that effect influences performance, investor flows and fund survival, and whether the disposition orientation of mutual funds affects stock prices in a sustained manner. We find that about 30% of all funds exhibit some degree of disposition behavior and that such funds underperform funds that are not disposition-prone by 4-6% per year. Moreover, after controlling for performance, tax overhang and other factors that potentially affect flows, disposition-prone funds attract significantly smaller flows than other funds. The results suggest that mutual fund investors are smart enough to minimize investment in disposition-prone funds. Consequently, disposition-prone funds have significantly higher rates of failure than other funds, thereby reducing the impact of such trading behavior on security prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Singal, Vijay & Xu, Zhaojin, 2011. "Selling winners, holding losers: Effect on fund flows and survival of disposition-prone mutual funds," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 2704-2718, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbfina:v:35:y:2011:i:10:p:2704-2718
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    3. Andreu, Laura & Ortiz, Cristina & Sarto, José Luis, 2020. "Disposition effect in fund managers. Fund and stock-specific factors and the upshot for investors," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 253-268.
    4. Herrmann, Ulf & Scholz, Hendrik, 2013. "Short-term persistence in hybrid mutual fund performance: The role of style-shifting abilities," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2314-2328.
    5. Chen, Hong-Yi & Chen, Hsuan-Chi & Lai, Christine W., 2021. "Internet search, fund flows, and fund performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    6. Janssen, Dirk-Jan & Li, Jiangyan & Qiu, Jianying & Weitzel, Utz, 2020. "The disposition effect and underreaction to private information," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    7. Hincapié-Salazar, Juliana & Agudelo, Diego A., 2020. "Is the disposition effect in bonds as strong as in stocks? Evidence from an emerging market," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    8. Jin, Xuejun & Li, Hongze & Yu, Bin & Zheng, Yijing, 2023. "How does the COVID-19 pandemic change the disposition effect in fund investors?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    9. Wolfgang Bessler & David Blake & Peter Lückoff & Ian Tonks, 2018. "Fund Flows, Manager Changes, and Performance Persistence [Does motivation matter when assessing trade performance? An analysis of mutual funds]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(5), pages 1911-1947.

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