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Abstract:
In this paper we analyze whether good corporate governance leads to higher common stock returns and enhances firm value in Europe. Throughout this study we use Deminor Corporate Governance Ratings for companies included in the FTSE Eurotop 300. Following the approach of Gompers, Ishii and Metrick (2003) we build portfolios consisting of well-governed and poorly governed companies and compare their performance. We also examine the impact of corporate governance on firm valuation. Our results show a positive relationship between these variables and corporate governance. This relationship weakens substantially after adjusting for country differences. Finally, we analyze the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance, as approximated by Net-Profit-Margin (NPM) and Return-on-Equity (ROE). Surprisingly, and contrary to Gompers, Ishii and Metrick (2003), we find a negative relationship between governance standards and these earnings based performance ratios for which we discuss possible implications.

corporate governance, financial performance, shareholder value, firm value, asset pricing

Abstract:
Using an international database containing 103 German, UK and US ethical mutual funds we review and extend previous research on ethical mutual fund performance. By applying a multi-factor Carhart (1997) model we solve the benchmark problem most prior ethical studies suffered from. After controlling for investment style, we find little evidence of significant differences in risk-adjusted returns between ethical and conventional funds for the 1990-2001 period. Introducing time-variation in betas however leads to a significant under-performance of domestic US funds and a significant out-performance of UK ethical funds, relative to their conventional peers. Finally, we differentiate previous results by documenting a learning effect. After a period of strong under-performance, older ethical funds finally are catching up, while younger funds continue to under-perform both the index and conventional peers.

Mutual Funds, Performance evaluation, Style Analysis, Ethical Investments,

Abstract:
Recent research documents that commodities are good diversifiers in traditional investment portfolios: overall portfolio risk is reduced while less than proportional return is sacrificed. These studies generally find a relatively high volatility in commodity returns, which implies a huge potential for tactical strategies. In this paper we investigate timing strategies with commodity futures using factors directly related to the stance of the business cycle, the monetary environment and the sentiment of the market. We use a dynamic model selection procedure in the spirit of the recursive modeling approach of Pesaran and Timmermann [1995]. However, instead of using in-sample model selection criteria, we build on the extensions of Bauer, Derwall and Molenaar [2004] by introducing an out-of-sample model training period to select optimal models. The best models from this training period are used to generate forecasts in a subsequent trading period. Our results show that the variation in commodity future returns is sufficiently predictable to be exploited by a realistic timing strategy.

Commodity futures, market timing

Abstract:
This study adds new insights to the long-running corporate environmental-financial performance debate by focusing on the concept of eco-efficiency. Using a new database of eco-efficiency ratings, we analyze the relation between eco-efficiency and financial performance from 1997 to 2004. We report that eco-efficiency relates positively to operating performance and market value. Moreover, our results suggest that the market's valuation of environmental performance has been time variant, which may indicate that the market incorporates environmental information with a drift. Although environmental leaders initially did not sell at a premium relative to laggards, the valuation differential increased significantly over time. Our results have implications for company managers, who evidently do not have to overcome a tradeoff between eco-efficiency and financial performance, and for investors, who can exploit environmental information for investment decisions.

Corporate Social Responsibility, Eco-Efficiency, Shareholder value, Firm Value, Firm Operating Performance, Management Policies, Capital Markets

Abstract:
We document the net equity performance of US defined benefit and defined contribution schemes at plan level, using a unique and comprehensive database. Pension fund performance is measured taking into account fund-specific benchmarks and multiple cost components. Pension funds perform close to their benchmarks, whereas size-matched mutual funds strongly underperform. Cost, risk and style differences do not explain the performance gap between the two institutional arrangements. Our results are consistent with the notion that pension funds are less exposed to hidden agency costs than mutual funds. Efficient fund pooling provides pension boards with enough negotiating power and monitoring capacity to ensure that institutional asset managers serve the interests of participants.

Pension Fund, Mutual Fund, Performance, Persistence, Agency Costs

Abstract:
This paper documents the relationship between cross-listing and corporate governance of the largest European companies between 2000 and 2003. Companies with a U.S. cross-listing, and particularly those listed on a U.S. stock exchange had higher corporate governance ratings than companies without a U.S. cross-listing. Corporate governance advantage of the U.S. cross-listed firms holds if we control for the country of origin and other company characteristics, and it was more consistent in 2003 than in 2000, suggesting a possible impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The U.S. cross-listed firms had higher ratings not only in terms of disclosure but also in terms of board structure and functioning. In contrast, they had no advantage in terms of shareholders' rights and duties. The advantage of U.S. cross-listed firms can be traced back to at least a couple of years before the time of cross-listing, which leaves the question whether their superior corporate governance is the effect of U.S. cross-listing open. In contrast to the importance of cross-listing in the U.S., there is no significant relationship between corporate governance and cross-listing within Europe. Implications are drawn for the debate on bonding and the future of European stock markets.

corporate governance, cross-listing, bonding, Europe, ADRs

Abstract:
There exists a widespread consensus among mainstream academics and investors that socially responsible investing (SRI) leads to inferior, rather than superior, portfolio performance. Using Innovest's well-established corporate eco-efficiency scores, we provide evidence to the contrary. We compose two equity portfolios that differ in eco-efficiency characteristics and find that our high-ranked portfolio provided substantially higher average returns compared to its low-ranked counterpart over the period 1995-2003. Using a wide range of performance attribution techniques to address common methodological concerns, we show that this performance differential cannot be explained by differences in market sensitivity, investment style, or industry-specific components. We finally investigate whether this eco-efficiency premium puzzle withstands the inclusion of transaction costs scenarios, and evaluate how excess returns can be earned in a practical setting via a best-in-class stock selection strategy. The results remain significant under all levels of transactions costs, thus suggesting that the incremental benefits of SRI can be substantial.

Socially Responsible Investing, SRI, Corporate Environmental Performance, Eco-Efficiency, Performance Measurement, Style Analysis

Abstract:
This paper examines the impact of option trading on individual investor performance. The results show that most investors incur substantial losses on their option investments, which are much larger than the losses from equity trading. We attribute the detrimental impact of option trading on investor performance to poor market timing that results from overreaction to past stock market returns. High trading costs further contribute to the poor returns on option investments. Gambling and entertainment appear to be the most important motivations for trading options while hedging motives only play a minor role. We also provide strong evidence of performance persistence among option traders.

option trading, individual investor performance, investor sentiment, performance persistence, Internet brokerage

Abstract:
Of the events signalling the end of the TMT bubble, scandals of corporate governance in the US and Europe captured the public imagination. In play were the greed and hubris of senior executives prompting further debate over countries' standards of corporate governance. If Enron and WorldCom were the US reference points, Ahold and Parmalat were the European instances. Ahold was especially important, being an instance of significant internal accounting and reporting failures and an instance of poor public disclosure of market-sensitive information. We report the analysis of market trading in Ahold stock in both Amsterdam and New York. It is shown that greater volatility in Amsterdam daily closing prices presaged the crisis to come in Ahold shares suggesting the leakage of information to privileged insiders. It is also shown that New York prices were inefficient not withstanding the advantages of a New York listing for the firm. Implications are drawn for the theory of global finance, and the nature and scope of convergence in national standards of corporate governance. It is argued that the co-existence of rather different regimes of governance may be undercut by the reaction of institutional investors in the global financial market place to the actions of corporate management.

Ahold, corporate governance, cross-listing, time-space market pricing

Abstract:
In this paper we develop a trading strategy in which the difference in observed returns of value and growth stocks in the US stock market is exploited. In the literature this return spread is often called the "value premium". In our modeling process we use a procedure similar to the recursive modeling approach as proposed by Pesaran and Timmerman (1995). We first estimate a universe of parsimonious models in an in-sample setting using a base set of technical and economic forecasting variables. Subsequently, we generate out-of-sample forecasts in a rolling window framework for all models and evaluate the performance in a so-called model training period. This adjustment directly relates to the critique of Bossaerts and Hillion (1999), who showed the insufficiency of in-sample criteria to forecast out-of-sample information ratios. Model selection is based on three well-known selection criteria: hit ratio (% correct sign), the mean return of the strategy and the realized information ratio. Finally, we start implementing our investment strategy in a second stage out-of-sample period: the trading period. This model estimation and selection procedure enables us to address the issue whether we could have historically exploited the value/growth rotation strategy in a practical context. In the empirical section we show that it is possible to successfully forecast the time-varying value premium based on this strategy. Moreover, we observe that the set of relevant forecasting variables varies considerably through time.

Value Premium, Style Rotation, Recursive Modeling, Model Selection

Abstract:
Our study examines whether the short-term variation in the Japanese size and value premium is sufficiently predictable to be exploited by a timing strategy. In the spirit of Pesaran and Timmermann (1995), we employ a dynamic modeling approach in which we explicitly allow for permutations among the determinants in order to mitigate typical data-snooping biases. Using a base set of candidate predictor variables, we perform an in-sample estimation of all economically sensible models. Subsequently, a 'best' model is determined according to a selection criterion. However, whereas most studies use in-sample model selection criteria, we introduce an out-of-sample training period to select our models. We then implement our strategy in a second-stage out-of-sample period: the trading period. All stages re-occur on a monthly basis via a rolling window framework. The results confirm sufficient predictability under lower transaction cost levels. Under high transaction costs scenarios it is more difficult to obtain incremental benefits.

Size premium, value premium, recursive modeling, model selection, style switching, real time predictability

Abstract:
In this paper, we examine whether the short-term variation in the size and value premium in the Japanese stock market is sufficiently predictable to be exploited by a tactical timing strategy. In the spirit of Pesaran and Timmermann (1995), we employ a dynamic modeling approach in which we explicitly allow for permutations among the determinants in order to mitigate typical data-snooping biases. Using a base set of candidate regressors, we first perform an in-sample estimation of all economically sensible models in a rolling window framework. Subsequently, we generate out-of-sample forecasts for all models and evaluate the performance in a model training period. Model selection is based on three well-known selection criteria: hit ratio (% correct sign), the mean return of the strategy and the realized information ratio. We then implement our investment strategy in a second stage out-of-sample period: the trading period. The empirical results confirm sufficient predictability under low levels of transactions costs. Under higher transaction costs scenarios we find it difficult to obtain incremental benefits from style rotation strategies. Moreover, the results are entangled with the choice of forecast horizon and model selection procedure.

size premium, value premium, style rotation, recursive modeling, model selection

Abstract:
The disappointing performance of value and small cap strategies shows that style consistency may not provide the long-term benefits often assumed in the literature. In this study we examine whether the short-term variation in the U.S. size and value premium is predictable. We document style-timing strategies based on technical and (macro-)economic predictors using a recently developed artificial intelligence tool called Support Vector Regressions (SVR). SVR are known for their ability to tackle the standard problem of overfitting, especially in multivariate settings. Our findings indicate that both premiums are predictable under fair levels of transaction costs and various forecasting horizons.

Stock returns, style timing, Support Vector Regression

Abstract:
REITs offer a natural experiment in corporate governance due to the fact that they leave little free cash flow for management, which reduces agency problems. We exploit a unique and leading corporate governance database to test whether corporate governance matters for the performance of U.S. REITs. We document for a sample including governance ratings of more than 220 REITs that firm value is significantly related to firm-level governance for REITs with low payout ratios only. Repeating the analysis with the complete database that includes more than 5,000 companies, and a control sample of firms with high corporate real estate ratios, we find a strong and significantly positive relation between our governance index and several performance variables, indicating that the partial lack of a relation between governance and performance in the real estate sector might be explained by a REIT effect.

Corporate Governance, REITs, real estate, performance

Abstract:
There exists a widespread consensus among mainstream academics and investors that socially responsible investing (SRI) leads to inferior, rather than superior, portfolio performance. Using Innovest’s well-established corporate ecoefficiency scores, we provide evidence to the contrary. We compose two equity portfolios that differ in eco-efficiency characteristics and find that our highranked portfolio provided substantially higher average returns compared to its low-ranked counterpart over the period 1995-2003. Using a wide range of performance attribution techniques to address common methodological concerns, we show that this performance differential cannot be explained by differences in market sensitivity, investment style, or industry-specific components. We finally investigate whether this eco-efficiency premium puzzle withstands the inclusion of transaction costs scenarios, and evaluate how excess returns can be earned in a practical setting via a best-in-class stock selection strategy. The results remain significant under all levels of transactions costs, thus suggesting that the incremental benefits of SRI can be substantial.

corporate environmental performance, eco-efficiency, performance measurement, socially responsible investing (SRI), style analysis

Abstract:
This study provides new evidence on the performance and investment style of retail ethical funds in Australia. By applying a conditional multi-factor Carhart (1997) model, we solve the benchmark problem most prior ethical studies suffered from. After controlling for investment style, time-variation in betas, bond exposure and home bias, we observe no evidence of significant differences in risk-adjusted returns between ethical and conventional funds during the 1992-2003 period. This result however is sensitive to the chosen time period. During 1992-1996, domestic ethical funds under-perform their conventional counterparts significantly. During 1996-2003, the ethical funds match the performance of conventional funds more closely. This suggests there is a learning effect for the relatively young ethical investment industry.

Mutual funds, performance evaluation, style analysis, ethical investments

Abstract:
This report summarises the scientific content and results of the European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop on 'Economic Geography and European Finance' held at Jesus College, Oxford University, 16-19 September 2004. The objective of the workshop was to further our understanding of the links between finance and space in the European context, through a cross-examination of ideas between the growing field of economic geography and the geographical perspectives applied in other social sciences including financial economics, political science, sociology as well as management and business studies. With this objective in mind the workshop was organised as a series of six sessions: European finance between globalisation and localisation, stock markets, corporate governance, venture capital, financial centres and banking. The workshop papers stressed the complementarity between quantitative and qualitative research. Still little is known empirically about the spatial flows of capital and finance in Europe, partly due to the lack of comparative data. On the other hand, while we are witnessing is a rebirth of geography in academic literature on finance, there are definite limits of modelling and quantitative methodology traditionally applied in financial economics. As the workshop has highlighted real-world space escapes any easy quantification, and has to be treated as a multi-dimensional concept incorporating distance, political borders, cultural proximity, as well as inclusion in and exclusion from specific social networks. In addition, the workshop has identified promising areas for future interdisciplinary research on European financial markets and institutions.

Economic geography, European integration, financial centres, corporate governance, enlargement

Abstract:
We improve both the specification and estimation of firm-specific betas. Time variation in betas is modeled by combining a parametric specification based on economic theory with a non-parametric approach based on data-driven filters. We increase the precision of individual beta estimates by setting up a hierarchical Bayesian panel data model that imposes a common structure on parameters. We show that these accurate beta estimates lead to a large increase in the cross-sectional explanatory power of the conditional CAPM. Using the betas to forecast the covariance matrix of returns also results in a significant improvement in the out-of-sample performance of minimum-variance portfolios.

asset pricing, portfolio choice, time-varying betas, Bayesian econometrics, panel data

Abstract:
This study provides European evidence on the ability of static and dynamic specifications of the Fama-French (1993) three-factor model to price 25 size-B/M portfolios. In contrast to US evidence, we detect a small-growth premium and find that the size effect is still present in Europe. Furthermore, we document strong time variation in factor risk loadings. Incorporating these risk fluctuations in conditional specifications of the three-factor model clearly improves its ability to explain time variation in expected returns. However, the model still fails to completely capture cross-sectional variation in returns as it is unable to explain the momentum effect.

conditional asset pricing, time-varying risk, stock market anomalies

Abstract:
We examine European corporate governance with respect to the relationship between shareholder value and capital investment. Based upon Europe's largest listed companies, it is shown that Anglo-American conceptions of shareholder value are increasingly important for European firms whatever their home jurisdictions and inherited traditions. Using annual capital expenditures as a proxy for corporate managers' commitment to shareholder value it is shown contra arguments to the effect that the map of European corporate governance regimes is fixed and virtually immutable, even large firms from paradigmatic stakeholder regimes believed focused upon long-term value increasingly act to maximise short-term shareholder value. We divide Europe into three regions based on ownership concentration, legal systems, board structures, and the presence of corporate governance codes. In this multi-jurisdictional setting, we compare the effects of different elements of corporate governance on capital expenditures in each region. Our analysis shows that the overall effect of investor-sensitive corporate governance on capital expenditures is consistently negative notwithstanding differences in the formal nature and quality of governance standards between regions. We explain this finding by reference to the governance standards of United Kingdom: a market for corporate governance that has come to dominate its continental European neighbours.

Capital expenditure, Corporate governance, Europe, Shareholder value

Abstract:
We construct a panel data model to explain the cross-section of individual stock returns, using monthly data for 1,880 large US firms for 1985-2005. Model specification is geared towards multiple explanatory variables, poolability across industries, alternative forecast horizons, and the effects of unobserved heterogeneity among firms. We find that combining multiple firm characteristics increases the predictive power. High expected returns are mostly related to size, cashflow-to-price and turnover, and somewhat to earnings revisions and momentum. Diversified portfolios sorted on expected returns have moderate risk exposures and generate significant risk-adjusted returns over all horizons. Longer forecasting horizons drastically reduce portfolio turnover and hence lower costs.

Stock returns, Forecasting, Panel data, Industry effects, Individual effects, Time effects

Abstract:
The institutional structure through which individuals accumulate retirement savings is an important issue. Ideally, it is expert and low-cost. This article compares the cost-effectiveness of the pension fund structure with the mutual fund structure. The authors hypothesize that the pension fund structure provides investment management services at lower cost because most mutual funds are conflicted between providing good financial results for their clients and good financial results for their shareholders. Specifically, they compare the investment performance of a sample of domestic fixed income portfolios of Canadian pension funds with those of a sample of Canadian fixed income mutual funds. They find an average performance differential of 1.8 percent per annum in favor of pension funds. This performance gap is approximately equal to the average cost differential between the two approaches. They conclude that high mutual fund fees significantly reduce the net returns of mutual fund investors.

Abstract:
Consistent with the theory that human capital management influences organizational performance and risk, we find that employee relations explain the cross-sectional variation in credit risk. We construct an aggregate measure for the quality of employee relations based on the firm’s engagement in employment practices and policies, and document that firms with stronger employee relations enjoy a statistically and economically lower cost of debt financing, higher credit ratings, and lower firm-specific risk. These findings are robust to the inclusion of a comprehensive set of controls and to alternative explanations.

nonfinancial stakeholders, employee relations, cost of debt, credit ratings, idiosyncratic risk

Abstract:
Using an international database containing 103 German, UK and US ethical mutual funds we review and extend previous research on ethical mutual fund performance. By applying a multi-factor Carhart (1997) model we overcome the benchmark problem most prior ethical studies suffered from. After controlling for investment style, we find no evidence of significant differences in risk-adjusted returns between ethical and conventional funds for the 1990-2001 period. Our results also suggest that ethical mutual funds underwent a catching up phase, before delivering financial returns similar to those of conventional mutual funds. Finally, our performance estimates are robust to the inclusion of ethical indexes, which, surprisingly, are not incrementally capable of explaining ethical mutual fund return variation.

Mutual Funds, Performance evaluation, Style Analysis, Ethical Investments

Abstract:
Using an international database containing 103 German, UK and US ethical mutual funds, we review and extend previous research on ethical mutual fund performance. By applying a multi-factor Carhart (1997) model we solve the benchmark problem most prior ethical studies suffered from. After controlling for investment style, we find little evidence of significant differences in risk-adjusted returns between ethical and conventional funds for the 1990-2001 period. Introducing time variation in betas however leads to a significant under-performance of domestic US funds and a significant out-performance of UK ethical funds, relative to their conventional peers. Finally, we differentiate previous results by documenting a learning effect. After a period of strong under-performance, older ethical funds finally are catching up, while younger funds continue to under-perform both the index and conventional peers.

Ethical mutual funds, investment style

Abstract:
The present study investigates the performance of New Zealand mutual funds using a survivorship-bias controlled sample of 143 funds for the period of 1990-2003. Our overall results suggest that New Zealand mutual funds have not been able to provide out-performance. Alphas for equity funds, both domestic and international, are insignificantly different from zero, whereas balanced funds underperform significantly. There is no evidence of timing abilities by the fund managers. In the short term, significant evidence of return persistence for all funds is observed. This persistence, however, is driven by icy hands rather than hot hands. Finally, we find the risk-adjusted performance for equity funds to be positively related to fund size and expense ratio and negatively related to load charges.

Abstract:
Does socially responsible investing (SRI) lead to inferior or superior portfolio performance? This study focused on the concept of eco-efficiency, which can be thought of as the economic value a company creates relative to the waste it generates, and found that SRI produced superior performance. Based on Innovest Strategic Value Advisors' corporate eco-efficiency scores, the study constructed and evaluated two equity portfolios that differed in eco-efficiency. The high-ranked portfolio provided substantially higher average returns than its low-ranked counterpart over the 1995-2003 period. This performance differential could not be explained by differences in market sensitivity, investment style, or industry-specific factors. Moreover, the results remained significant for all levels of transaction costs, suggesting that the incremental benefits of SRI can be substantial.

Portfolio Management, Equity Strategies, Performance Measurement and Evaluation, Performance Measurement, Corporate Governance

Abstract:
In this paper we present prima facie evidence for the predictions generated by the Mixture of Distributions Hypothesis, using daily German stock returns and their corresponding daily volumes and number of trades. These last two variables are used as proxies for the stochastic rate of information arrival when one wishes to explain GARCH effects by adhering to the Mixture of Distribution Theory. We show that there is no need for these proxies when the stochastic rate of information arrival follows an inverted gamma distribution, often assumed in the Baysian literature. Despite the loss of their status as proxies, daily trading volume and the daily number of trades can provide an explanation for the occurrence of conditional heteroskedasticity of the GARCH form.