The Performance of European Index Funds and Exchange-Traded Funds
European Financial Management, Forthcoming
Posted: 14 Feb 2011
There are 3 versions of this paper
The Performance of European Index Funds and Exchange-Traded Funds
The Performance of European Index Funds and Exchange‐Traded Funds
Date Written: February 14, 2011
Abstract
European index funds and exchange-traded funds underperform their benchmarks by 50 to 150 basis points per annum. The explanatory power of dividend withholding taxes as a determinant of this underperformance is at least at par with fund expenses. Dividend taxes also explain performance differences between funds that track different benchmarks and time variation in fund performance. Our results imply that not only fund expenses, but also dividend taxation can result in a substantial drag on the performance of mutual funds.
Keywords: passive investing, index fund, ETF, dividend taxes, performance evaluation
JEL Classification: G11, G14, G19
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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