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Defined Contribution Pension Plans: Sticky or Discerning Money?

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  • Clemens Sialm

    ()

    (University of Texas at Austin)

  • Laura Starks

    (Stanford University)

  • Hanjiang Zhang

    (Stanford University)

Abstract

Participants in defined contribution (DC) retirement plans rarely adjust their portfolio allocations, suggesting that their investment choices and consequent money flows are sticky and not discerning. Yet, the participants’ inertia could be offset by the DC plan sponsors, who adjust the plan’s investment options. We examine these countervailing influences on flows into U.S. mutual funds. We find that flows into funds that derive from DC assets are more volatile and exhibit more performance sensitivity than non-DC flows, primarily due to the adjustments of the investment options by the plan sponsors. Thus, DC retirement money is less sticky and more discerning.

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Paper provided by Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research in its series Discussion Papers with number 13-022.

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Date of creation: Jan 2014
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Handle: RePEc:sip:dpaper:13-022
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Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
  • 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
  • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions

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Cited by:

  1. Sorhage, Christoph, 2015. "Outsourcing of mutual funds' non-core competencies," CFR Working Papers 14-04 [rev.2], University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
  2. Mason, Andrew & Agyei-Ampomah, Sam & Skinner, Frank, 2016. "Realism, skill, and incentives: Current and future trends in investment management and investment performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 31-40.
  3. Dahlquist, Magnus & Setty, Ofer & Vestman, Roine, 2016. "On the Asset Allocation of a Default Pension Fund," CEPR Discussion Papers 11052, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  4. Julia Le Blanc & Almuth Scholl, 2015. "Optimal Savings for Retirement: The Role of Individual Accounts," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2015-10, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
  5. Zhi Da & Borja Larrain & Clemens Sialm & José Tessada, 2016. "Coordinated Noise Trading: Evidence from Pension Fund Reallocations," NBER Working Papers 22161, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  6. Stephen G. Dimmock & William C. Gerken & Zoran Ivković & Scott J. Weisbenner, 2014. "Capital Gains Lock-In and Governance Choices," NBER Working Papers 20176, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  7. Mercedes Alda, 2016. "Manager Characteristics and Manager-Replacement: How Is Pension Fund Performance Affected?," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 66(2), pages 161-180, April.
  8. Clemens Sialm & Hanjiang Zhang, 2015. "Tax-Efficient Asset Management: Evidence from Equity Mutual Funds," NBER Working Papers 21060, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  9. Chen, Hsuan-Chi & Lai, Christine W. & Wu, Sheng-Ching, 2016. "Mutual fund selection and performance persistence in 401(k) Plans," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 78-100.

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