IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/assmgt/v24y2023i6d10.1057_s41260-023-00321-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effects of size on the exchange-traded funds performance

Author

Listed:
  • Kiran Paudel

    (University of New Orleans)

  • Atsuyuki Naka

    (University of New Orleans)

Abstract

This study investigates the effects of size on the risk-adjusted fund performance of US-publicly listed index-tracking passive equity exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Using panel quantile and Fama–MacBeth cross-sectional regression approaches, we determine that the asset-based size growth is informative in the risk-return trade-offs of ETFs, and that these ETFs do not follow a constant return-to-scale. The quantile regression results show that the rate of return-to-scale diminishes as the ETFs size increases and becomes negative for the most significant fund group. The size has a considerably substantial negative impact on the highest-performing clusters of ETFs, suggesting that the diseconomies of scale found in conventional active mutual funds affect the ETFs. The results align with Indro et al. (Financ Anal J 55: 74–87, 1999) findings of mutual funds that there are diminishing marginal returns to information acquisition and trading, and the marginal returns become negative when the fund exceeds its optimal size. This study provides further insights and understanding of the performance and size relationship of index-tracking passive equity ETFs.

Suggested Citation

  • Kiran Paudel & Atsuyuki Naka, 2023. "Effects of size on the exchange-traded funds performance," Journal of Asset Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(6), pages 474-484, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:assmgt:v:24:y:2023:i:6:d:10.1057_s41260-023-00321-4
    DOI: 10.1057/s41260-023-00321-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41260-023-00321-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41260-023-00321-4?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. Yan, Xuemin (Sterling), 2008. "Liquidity, Investment Style, and the Relation between Fund Size and Fund Performance," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(3), pages 741-767, September.
    2. 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.
    3. Itzhak Ben‐David & Francesco Franzoni & Rabih Moussawi, 2018. "Do ETFs Increase Volatility?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(6), pages 2471-2535, December.
    4. Allaudeen Hameed & Wenjin Kang & S. Viswanathan, 2010. "Stock Market Declines and Liquidity," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(1), pages 257-293, February.
    5. Keim, Donald B., 1999. "An analysis of mutual fund design: the case of investing in small-cap stocks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 173-194, February.
    6. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2015. "Scale and skill in active management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 23-45.
    7. 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.
    8. Edwin J. Elton & Martin J. Gruber & Christopher R. Blake, 2012. "Does Mutual Fund Size Matter? The Relationship Between Size and Performance," The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 2(1), pages 31-55.
    9. Crane, Alan D. & Crotty, Kevin, 2018. "Passive versus Active Fund Performance: Do Index Funds Have Skill?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(1), pages 33-64, February.
    10. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    11. Zhu, Min, 2018. "Informative fund size, managerial skill, and investor rationality," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(1), pages 114-134.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Fama, Eugene F & MacBeth, James D, 1973. "Risk, Return, and Equilibrium: Empirical Tests," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 607-636, May-June.
    15. Phillips, Blake & Pukthuanthong, Kuntara & Rau, P. Raghavendra, 2018. "Size does not matter: Diseconomies of scale in the mutual fund industry revisited," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 357-365.
    16. Chordia, Tarun & Roll, Richard & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar, 2002. "Order imbalance, liquidity, and market returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 111-130, July.
    17. Eugene F. Fama & Kenneth R. French, 2010. "Luck versus Skill in the Cross‐Section of Mutual Fund Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1915-1947, October.
    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. Angelidis, Timotheos & Babalos, Vassilios & Fessas, Michalis, 2021. "The economic gain of being small in the mutual fund industry: U.S. and international evidence," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    2. Giuseppe Galloppo, 2021. "Size," Springer Books, in: Asset Allocation Strategies for Mutual Funds, chapter 0, pages 151-190, Springer.
    3. Jeffrey A. Busse & Tarun Chordia & Lei Jiang & Yuehua Tang, 2021. "Transaction Costs, Portfolio Characteristics, and Mutual Fund Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(2), pages 1227-1248, February.
    4. Phillips, Blake & Pukthuanthong, Kuntara & Rau, P. Raghavendra, 2018. "Size does not matter: Diseconomies of scale in the mutual fund industry revisited," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 357-365.
    5. 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.
    6. Wen-Hsiu Chou & William Hardin, 2014. "Performance Chasing, Fund Flows and Fund Size in Real Estate Mutual Funds," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 379-412, October.
    7. 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).
    8. Ľuboš Pástor & Robert F. Stambaugh & Lucian A. Taylor, 2017. "Do Funds Make More When They Trade More?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1483-1528, August.
    9. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2015. "Scale and skill in active management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 23-45.
    10. Kooli, Maher & Zhang, Min, 2022. "Not only skill but also scale: Evidence from the hedge funds industry," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    11. Ali, Ashiq & Chen, Xuanjuan & Yao, Tong & Yu, Tong, 2020. "Can mutual funds profit from post earnings announcement drift? The role of competition," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    12. Blake, David & Caulfield, Tristan & Ioannidis, Christos & Tonks, Ian, 2014. "Improved inference in the evaluation of mutual fund performance using panel bootstrap methods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 183(2), pages 202-210.
    13. Cuthbertson, Keith & Nitzsche, Dirk & O'Sullivan, Niall, 2016. "A review of behavioural and management effects in mutual fund performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 162-176.
    14. Pástor, Ľuboš & Stambaugh, Robert F. & Taylor, Lucian A., 2020. "Fund tradeoffs," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(3), pages 614-634.
    15. Yang Song, 2020. "The Mismatch Between Mutual Fund Scale and Skill," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(5), pages 2555-2589, October.
    16. Laurent Barras & Patrick Gagliardini & Olivier Scaillet, 2022. "Skill, Scale, and Value Creation in the Mutual Fund Industry," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(1), pages 601-638, February.
    17. Ying Liao & Cuixia Li & Lei Jiang & Liang Peng, 2021. "Quantifying Diseconomies Of Scale For Mutual Funds," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 22(1), pages 1-24, May.
    18. Feldman, David & Saxena, Konark & Xu, Jingrui, 2020. "Is the active fund management industry concentrated enough?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(1), pages 23-43.
    19. Cai, Yu & Lau, Sie Ting, 2015. "Informed trading around earnings and mutual fund alphas," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 168-180.
    20. Clemens Sialm & T. Mandy Tham, 2016. "Spillover Effects in Mutual Fund Companies," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(5), pages 1472-1486, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Exchange-traded funds; Panel quantile regression; Index-tracking funds; Asset size; Scale economies; Risk-adjusted alpha;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G1 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets
    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G19 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Other

    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:pal:assmgt:v:24:y:2023:i:6:d:10.1057_s41260-023-00321-4. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    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.