Asset Management Within Commercial Banking Groups: International Evidence*
Asset Management Within Commercial Banking Groups: * International Evidence Miguel A. Ferreira Nova School of Business and Economics, ECGI Pedro Matos University of Virginia - Darden School of Business, ECGI Pedro Pires Nova School of Business and Economics This Version: December 2016 Abstract We study the performance of equity mutual funds run by asset management divisions of commercial banking groups using a worldwide sample. We show that bank-affiliated funds underperform unaffiliated funds by 92 basis points per year. Consistent with conflicts of interest, the underperformance is more pronounced among those affiliated funds that overweight more the stock of the bank’s lending clients. Divestitures of asset management divisions by banking groups support a causal interpretation of the results. Our findings suggest that affiliated fund managers support their lending divisions’ operations to reduce career concerns at the expense of fund investors. JEL classification: G11, G23, G32 Keywords: Mutual funds, Fund performance, Conflicts of interest, Universal banking * We thank Richard Evans, Benjamin Golez, Peter Hoffmann, Russell Jame, Bige Kahraman, Andrew Karolyi, Alberto Manconi, Saurin Patel, Melissa Prado, David Schumacher, and Clemens Sialm; participants at the European Finance Association Annual Meeting, Financial Intermediation Research Society Annual Conference, McGill Global Asset Management Conference, Recent Advances in Mutual Fund and Hedge Fund Research Conference- ESMT Berlin, and Luxembourg Asset Management Summit; and seminar participants at the Darden School of Business, Federal Reserve Board, Georgia State University, International Monetary Fund, Maastricht University, Norges Bank Investment Management, Nova School of Business and Economics, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Stockholm School of Economics, Southern Methodist University, Temple University, Texas A&M University, Tilburg University, University of Alabama, University of Hong Kong, University of Toronto, and Villanova University for helpful comments.
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