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Liquidity shocks and pension fund performance: Evidence from early access

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  • James Brugler
  • Minsoo Kim
  • Zhuo Zhong

Abstract

We study how expectations of fund flows causally affect fund performance by exploiting a quasi-natural experiment in the Australian pension system where an unexpected policy change temporarily allowed fund withdrawals from a prespecified date in the future. Using fractions of young members, middle-aged members, and government co-contributions for low-income earners as instrumental variables, we find an insignificant effect of expected fund outflows on performance. A potential explanation is that Australian superannuation funds preemptively engage in liquidity management in response to changes in expectations of future fund flows and this helps to limit direct and indirect costs in the rebalancing process. JEL Classification: G11, G12, G14, G23, G51

Suggested Citation

  • James Brugler & Minsoo Kim & Zhuo Zhong, 2024. "Liquidity shocks and pension fund performance: Evidence from early access," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 49(2), pages 170-191, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ausman:v:49:y:2024:i:2:p:170-191
    DOI: 10.1177/03128962221127804
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Expectations; fund flows; fund performance; liquidity management; natural experiment; pension funds;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G51 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Household Savings, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth

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