Mutual Fund Return Predictability in Partially Segmented Markets

Abstract:     
This paper studies the predictability of European equity mutual fund performance during a period when European stock markets were partially segmented. Specifically, we use macroeconomic variables to predict the performance of European equity funds, including Pan-European, country, and sector funds. We find that macro-variables are useful in locating funds with future outperformance, and that country-specific mutual funds provide the best opportunities for fund rotation strategies using macroeconomic information. Specifically, our baseline long-only strategies provide four-factor alphas of 10-12%/year over the 1993-2008 period. Our study provides new evidence on the benefits of local asset managers in segmented markets, as well as how macroeconomic information can be used to locate and exploit these benefits.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 77

Keywords: European equity markets; mutual fund performance; time-varying investment opportunities.

JEL Classification: G11, G15, G23

working papers series