Determinants of mutual fund flows

Abstract

I investigate mutual fund flows at the individual fund and at the fund family level. At the individual, I use SEC filings to decompose fund flows into inflows and outflows. This decomposition of net flows into its component parts provides a way to examine differences in how search costs and investor learning affect investors who are entering a fund (or adding to their investments) versus those investors who are leaving a fund (or decreasing their investments). I then examine the effect of the existence of an advertisement for the fund on these investors. At the mutual fund family level, I examine how the characteristics and performance of mutual fund families affect the flows to the family as a whole. I then examine the effects of advertising expenditures on flows to the fund family.