Search

This article investigates the cultural perceptions and the common sense held by Finnish mutual fund managers on the very wealthy and the rich in times of growing inequalities and increased wealth accumulation at the top. By studying the financial intermediaries on the shop-floor level, who embody the promises of popular finance, the article describes how fund managers working for the small investors make sense of the inequalities caused by financialization. In the research interviews analysed in the article, the mutual fund managers perceive the rich as a necessary and salutary part of the contemporary economy, whose function is to be and behave better than the financialized markets. This common sense concerning the rich helps to legitimize increasing wealth accumulation at the top, so that the fund managers' perceptions of the rich embody an ideological coalition between the working financiers and the super-rich rentiers, a coalition that contrasts starkly with the promises of popular finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A mutual fund is a common instrument for households and corporations to invest in the financial markets through diversified portfolios of securities. Investing in managed mutual funds involves relying on a fund manager's knowledge, expertise, and investment strategy to beat the fund's benchmark. The purpose of this paper is to help mutual fund investors in their fund selection process. The fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is the methodology applied to identify combinations of factors that facilitate the selection of performing mutual funds. The goal is to determine whether fund manager skill, as measured by Jensen's Alpha and other qualitative factors, is a key driver of performance. Our research focuses on US-registered equity funds with a global investing scope over a 5-year period (2016–2021), and we combine three mutual fund databases to obtain more complete data while enhancing data accuracy and consistency. The findings reveal that both manager skill and fund size are pervasive factors included in all three successful combinations of sufficiency conditions leading to high-performance funds. In addition, it is verified that manager skill is the only necessary condition to ensure high returns on mutual funds. Investors' fund selection process is a cumbersome task that can be simplified with the successful recipes provided by the fsQCA model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research is to ascertain the factors associated with financial indicators, independent sources of information, financial necessities, advocate recommendations, and personal reputation/firm reputation compliance that can influence the behavior of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) individual investors. The research was carried out by questionnaire method. The survey was conducted with 300 investors trading on DSE. The survey includes only gender as a demographic factor of the participants, 5 main variables, and 27 sub-factors related to them. The obtained data were analyzed with SPSS 26 program. In the research, descriptive analysis was used to achieve the research objective. The findings of the research present that financial indicators, independent sources of information, and personal reputation/firm reputation compliance have a significant impact while financial necessities have a moderate impact, and advocate recommendations have very little impact on DSE individual investors' behavior. The research provides guidance to individual investors, firms, policymakers, and investment advisors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the current complex economic situation and the impact of COVID-19, China's capital market reform has entered a critical period, with opportunities and challenges coexisting. One of the important challenges is how to improve the well-being of investors in capital markets. Financial education, which has been offered by financial institutions in many countries in recent years, is likely to become an effective policy instrument to meet this challenge. Using survey data of individual investors from China, this study examines the potential impact of financial education programs offered by financial institutions on individuals' investment diversification. The results show financial education is positively associated with the investment diversification of individual investors. An analysis of the underlying mechanism shows that financial education contributes to the improvement of investment diversification by mitigating limited attention bias, strengthening social trust, and promoting the use of professional investment advisors. These findings suggest that the persistent promotion of financial education programs has a positive effect on optimizing financial asset allocation decisions and improving financial welfare of Chinese households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the large number of stock companies, complex stock categories and inconsistent evaluation standards of market value, it is not conducive to the choice of investors. Based on the theory and practice of traditional stock performance evaluation model, this paper integrates the algorithm thought structure of Fama–French five-factor model and proposes a machine learning algorithm model for stock performance research. In addition, this paper also builds a model that can evaluate the style and timing ability of fund managers to improve the fund performance evaluation system to a greater extent. With the help of the performance evaluation updating function of the model, it provides a new experience material in the empirical research composition of the fund performance field. In the system test module, the former prediction data and the actual experimental data are integrated, and the two are sorted out and compared, which proves the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm model. The final experimental results verify the usefulness of the model in stock return prediction and analysis of influencing factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we formulate an inverse data envelopment analysis (DEA) model for a serially linked two-stage production process operating under constant returns to scale technology. The inverse DEA model determines a set of intermediate and output targets for an input augmented decision-making unit (DMU) to maintain its relative efficiency at a pre-specified level. We solve the inverse DEA model using the constraint method used in multi-objective optimization. The input augmented DMU with intermediate and output targets obtained in the inverse DEA model is a hypothetical DMU. Under our modelling framework, when such a hypothetical DMU established on an inefficient DMU is included in the observed DMU set, the frontier established with observed DMU set remains intact. This is important in practice as the intermediate and output targets of the hypothetical DMU would be feasible. When overall efficiency of the hypothetical DMU is decomposed, individual stages have the same efficiency level as that of the hypothetical DMU. This is important to DMU managers as sub-processes also maintain the desired overall efficiency level. We apply our inverse DEA model to a sample of Australian superannuation funds. We demonstrate that each unique Pareto optimal solution of the inverse DEA model obtained through the constraint method provides a specific set of intermediate and output targets and they may offer trade-off between intermediates and outputs. When fund managers anticipate expansion or growth in their funds, choice of targets allows comparison of different trade-off scenarios and makes informed decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Evidence of anti-herding by hedge fund managers from a sample of 1,899 U.S. hedge funds. • Hedge funds anti-herd primarily based on fundamental information. • Funding illiquidity has a stronger effect on the formation of anti-herding than other market conditions. • Hedge funds that anti-herd earn significantly higher excess returns in subsequent periods. • Hedge funds that anti-herd experience greater idiosyncratic volatility in subsequent periods. Utilizing a dataset of 1,899 U.S. hedge funds, we present evidence of anti-herding behaviour among the U.S. hedge fund managers. Hedge funds anti-herd irrespective of market volatility and credit deterioration conditions although funding illiquidity has a stronger effect on the formation of anti-herding behaviour across the majority of hedge fund schemes analysed. More importantly, we document significant economic implications of anti-herding and show that hedge funds associated with high degree of anti-herding earn significantly higher excess returns over those with low degree of anti-herding, particularly in the intermediate and long horizons up to one year. At the same time, hedge funds that anti-herd experience greater idiosyncratic volatility in subsequent periods, presenting a novel perspective to the relationship between anti-herding, idiosyncratic volatility and expected returns. While the finding of anti-herding in the hedge fund industry is not unexpected as the main attraction of hedge funds is to devise proprietary trading strategies that is based on private information, our findings provide novel insight to the link between idiosyncratic volatility and expected returns in the context of anti-herding in the hedge fund industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are increasingly utilized in share market services due to significant efficiencies and benefits for companies and investors across the globe. This has resulted in an alteration in the firm's business models and has a potential impact on the effectiveness of the share market and could harm investors. Indian share market is also witnessing the usage of this technology by market intermediaries. The present regulatory framework of Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on share market intermediaries is not dealing with the Fintech/technology 2.0-based products and services offered in retail trading and investment advisor platforms in India. The research is primarily based on the normative method presenting a qualitative analysis of the usage of AI & ML in various business models by share market intermediaries. How various share market regulators are addressing and regulating this technology usage and their judicial exposition. The paper concludes that the Indian share market is no exception & SEBI require to look at this new transformation and address the challenges posed by it. SEBI needs to take a proactive step to promote, guide & regulate usages of AI & ML which is gradually seeking the attention of Indian share market intermediaries into their business models and get the maximum benefit out of these technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is witnessed that the marketplace of mutual funds is complex and contain high visibility of risks. Considering this, investors' decision regarding mutual fund investment is critical. Therefore, the study aims to evaluate the implications of knowledge and information sharing facets along with involvement of financial advisers and behavioural aspects. The primary qualitative method has been adopted which has implemented the semi-structured interview. In the interview process, three participants have been selected to gain adequate data related to the topic. Since it is a qualitative study, therefore, a thematic analysis has been presented. The results showcased that investor's perception and attitude is determined through gaining accurate information as well as investment advisers have an influential impact. It is concluded with the observation that both information sharing and financial experts are responsible to induce changes in investor perception. Beside, the involvement of behavioural aspects also alters the dimensions of decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the work of an OD consultant which is often presented as a series of planned stages such as entry, contracting, data gathering and diagnosis, feedback, intervention and evaluation with discrete tasks all directed outward, at the problem. Topics include considered there is an assumption that the client knows what the problem is and that the consultant, "collaboratively" with the client, will address these problems and fix them.

In this article, we contribute to the debate around the definition of investment consulting and, in particular, to its distinction from the concept of receipt and execution of orders. A summary will be provided of the regime applicable to each of these two investment services, with a focus on the duties that both activities entail and the corresponding consequences in terms of civil liability. To conclude, we will use the experience of financial institutions acting as financial intermediaries for their clients as a reference and analyse the civil liability regime that in our view should apply to those cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides background on the rising concerns with online financial advice around the world, and a regulatory gap in the U.S. regarding oversight of investment advice. It mentions regulations currently in place that may be relevant to finfluencers; structural inadequacies in the current oversight provided by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission; and the overview of how a different government agency's Federal Trade Commission in addressing media influencer activities.

Introduction: Access to innovative pharmaceuticals is thought to be associated with several exogenous factors related to the local legal or financial framework of pharmaceutical reimbursement. Our aim was to describe the association between the outcome of the reimbursement procedure on innovative pharmaceutical submissions in Hungary and several potential explanatory variables related to the legal or financial framework of reimbursement procedures, such as the submission implying a need for a legal act to conclude on a positive decision; having a risk-sharing agreement (RSA) in place at the time of submission; the aim of the submission and expenditure on individual funding requests. Methods: Publicly available administrative announcements of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Manager were used to construct the analysis dataset including all concluded procedures between 1 January 2018 and 7 June 2021, complemented with information on the overall aim of the submission (new compound or new indication). Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios while adjusting for potential confounding. Results: Needing a legislative change as a proxy of involving high-level decision makers to reimburse had a lower (OR = 0.05, CI95%:0.02–0.11), whereas having an RSA had a statistically significant higher chance of a positive decision (OR = 3.49, CI95%:1.56–7.82). In contrast, neither the overall purpose of the submission (OR = 1.32, CI95%:0.65–2.69), nor the average biennial expenditure on individual funding requests exceeding 200 million HUFs (OR = 1.04, CI95%:0.92–1.19) had a statistically significant association with the decision. Conclusions: This study quantitatively demonstrated that the need for legal acts to conclude on a positive decision decreases, whereas having an RSA for the particular product increases the likelihood of a positive reimbursement decision in Hungary. The role of other factors remain unclear. Our findings suggest that the legal requirements and RSAs play key roles in the reimbursement of innovative pharmaceuticals and can be viewed as potential areas of policy interventions in expanding access to these products, although the feasibility of such interventions need strong commitment from decision-makers, as well as implying increased autonomy to the entities involved in reimbursement procedures. Further research is needed to assess the impact of endogenous and exogenous factors in a coherent framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research background: Exponential growth of passive mutual funds after 2007-2008 global financial crisis put pressure on active fund managers to lower the management fees. The real costs of active fund management are, however, very often higher than the values of management fees reported publicly. Thus it is not easy to decide on the quality of the fund management and estimate the level of management charges optimal for the future fund performance. Purpose of the article: In this study, we propose to utilize an actual rate of the management fee (ARMF) disclosed in the management company financial statements as a measure of the real value of the management costs and investigate its determinants in mutual funds of different styles. Methods: Using a dataset of 21,618 monthly observations for 500 mutual funds from a market of diversified structure and high management fees charged we test the operating model of a mutual fund performance, and derive the formula of a before-fee return with the ARMF as its component. The fund performance is measured by a raw before-fee return and two types of risk-adjusted alphas based on the multifactor model of Carhart (1997) and the fund attributes. Later, using panel data we explain ARMF by mutual fund performance and attributes. We also compare the results to the ones obtained for the total operational cost (TOC) -- a value similar to ARMF that is disclosed in mutual fund financial reports. Findings & value added: We find that the proposed ARMF is related more to the size and not to the performance, age or a cash flow of mutual funds. We observe it among all studied fund styles. The largest deviations of the average ARMF are seen in the management companies that belong to the banks' capital groups. The proposed measure of the management fee included in the operating model of a mutual fund performance can be used for any local mutual fund worldwide, and compared with other fund markets of more or less diversified style structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Indian context, we have applied the Sharpe Single Index model with Elton's portfolio optimization framework and Markowitz Portfolio Theory framework for optimizing intra and inter‐sectoral equity portfolios. Literature provide less evidence on the inter and intra‐sector relationships to which we contribute. We compute 11 sector‐specific optimal portfolios and one inter‐sector optimal portfolio using the NSE sectoral indices like automobiles, banking, financial services, FMCG, IT, media, metals, pharmaceuticals, private banks, PSU banks, realty, and broad‐market inter‐sector index Nifty50. We use the month‐end adjusted closing returns data comprising 15,834 observations from 191 scrips during 2013 to 2019. We create in‐sample optimal portfolios and out‐sample mimic portfolios under the Sharpe and Markowitz models for comparison and validation with optimized weights. Our results show that inter‐sector portfolio performs better than some of the intra‐sector portfolios. Also, the intra‐sector portfolios like realty, metals, information technology, and media generated higher returns with relatively moderate or less risk than their sectoral peers and benchmark indices. We found that Sharpe's model performs better than Markowitz's model. We validated our findings with statistical testing. Thereby, we documented the applicability of the Sharpe Single Index for portfolio optimization in the Indian context. Our research has several implications. Fund managers can make use of our optimal portfolio performance matrix to recommend portfolios to their clients. With our optimized portfolio weights, investors can make sector‐level or inter‐sector investments. Regulators can get a synoptic view of the performance of industry‐level portfolios. Researchers can extend the literature by improvising our portfolio optimization procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct listing is an innovative alternative to a traditional initial public offering. Since direct listing was revived in 2018, there have been many lingering questions, particularly about the liability of financial advisors involved in the process. In a traditional IPO, a company retains an investment bank as an underwriter; the underwriter takes on a degree of financialrisk and lendscredibility to the company’s offering, often directly marketing the offering to potential investors. In a direct listing, however, investment banks act as financial advisors but do not assume financial risk or market the sale of securities. Section 11 is an important antifraud provision of the Securities Act of 1933, which imposes liability on all offering participants meeting the statutory definition of underwriter. Whether that definition fairly encompasses financial advisors is unsettled, resulting in uncertainty for both investors and offering participants. After arguing for the application of the Lehman Brothers interpretation of the underwriter definition, this Note then argues that financial advisors are not likely to be statutory underwriters under that interpretation. This Note therefore recommends against the application of section 11 liability to financial advisors. After briefly discussing the risks this conclusion implies for investors, this Note discusses what should be done. One scholar has suggested that section 11 liability should be imposed on financial advisors through exchange rules. But increasing liability is not without costs. Reframing the question as a choice between negligence-based liability and scienter-based liability, this Note points to the possibility that an increase in liability could undermine the primary benefits of direct listing. Drawing on a framework developed by Professor Assaf Hamdani, this Note finally discusses the possibility of using direct regulation in concert with scienter-based liability to incentivize financial advisors to be effective gatekeepers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that, after the revelation of financial fraud in a major pension fund manager, two-thirds of affected investors fail to divest. Inert investors are on average younger, of lower SES and more influenced by default options. The majority of those who divest move their money to the only state-run option on the fund menu. The revelation of fraud also induces a small movement of investors from non-fraudulent private investment funds to the state alternative. We further show that most fraud victims end up in underperforming high-fee funds through their prior affiliation with a subscription-based financial advisor. Our analysis is based on the remarkable events surrounding the expulsion of Allra from the Swedish Premium Pension, and administrative, individual-level data on mutual fund choices and background characteristics. Our results illustrate that fraudulent fund managers may exploit widespread consumer biases in choice-oriented pension plans, and that information interventions by the government are important but far from fully effective in nudging victimized investors to take the right action. Pension plans may be characterized by investor inertia even under extreme circumstances such as fraud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to measure the intrinsic characteristics of the Indian capital market through the long and short strangle options strategies. The study uses the trigonometric ratio Tan θ to form the monthly angle between strategy profit and Nifty closing. Further, the results of monthly angle formation have been verified by the regression analysis. The result of the angle formation indicates that the short strangle option strategy may perform better on the Nifty Index in the future. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research where different properties of any index through the strangle options strategies using the Angle (Tan θ) have been analyzed on the Nifty Index of India. These findings will help investment management companies, retail investors, and investment advisors for profit maximization while trading in Nifty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability is one of the main concerns of decision makers, factories, and retailers. This importance increases when the organization needs to define, implement, and manage a sustainable portfolio to succeed in today's environment of change and uncertainty. Therefore, this study examines the portfolio of palm producers from 2010 to 2020. The proposed optimization model is based on the classic mean-variance approach and companies ranked using the PROMETHEE method. Our findings indicate that the effects of this asset allocation change in favour of high-score sustainability investments significantly influence risk-adjusted returns of portfolios. According to the finding, sustainable portfolios perform better than conventional ones. The findings could be useful to private and institutional investors and fund managers in constructing and managing their portfolios. The efficient frontier of the best 50% portfolio shows a higher risk for a higher return. This could explain that a higher sustainability score in different criteria leads to more optimal portfolios in terms of risk and return. Intended contributions include considering sustainability, minimizing risk, and portfolio management simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Logistics real estate is a type of property rarely covered in the existing literature on the financialisation of property markets. The emergence of specialised international real estate firms, which act as developers, investors and property fund managers, means that the logistics real estate industry has taken a unique financialisation path. The present article explains the specific features of the financialisation of the logistics real estate industry and contributes to the understanding of the financialisation of outer-suburban governance. Based on a qualitative analysis of the European logistics real estate market and case studies conducted in the Greater Paris region, the article combines an analysis of the sociotechnical mediations of financial circuits in the logistics built environment with the study of emerging local public–private coalitions formed to develop logistics zones. As such, it will be seen that the domination of integrated global firms in logistics real estate depends on their capacity to form local coalitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes the notion of the proper size interval for funds and the market redemption return in fund markets. We establish a model to determine the proper size interval that accounts for the interests of both investors and fund managers as well as market constraints. We then propose a method to analyze fund managers' abilities and fund sizes compared to the market averages. Using data on Chinese equity and hybrid funds for the sample period from 2009 to 2019, we find that there is a negative log-linear relationship between fund net excess return and fund size. Our model shows that both equity and hybrid funds experience the transition from being over-sized to properly- and under-sized. Under-sized and over-sized funds account for about 60% and 30% of the total sample, respectively, while less than 10% of funds have a proper size. Compared with over- or under-sized funds, funds with a proper size can generate higher returns and higher capital inflow. Our empirical results confirm that funds with higher managerial ability indeed outperform those funds with lower managerial ability, regardless of the category of fund size. Overall, our model provides a new method for fund investors, managers, and regulators to classify and evaluate funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aninvestment advisory is a service-oriented organisation that buys and sells shares, on behalf of their customers. Thegoal of this studyis to identify a profit/loss pattern for four quarters in call recommendations (Buy/Sell). However, there seems to be a very few or no effort to generate performance indicators for investment advisors based on historical data on their investment advice. The inherent advantage of dealing with Bayesian modelling has been attempted using the necessary models applying adequate underlying parameter transformation. The variation in four quarters could be achievedthrough the measure of heterogeneity and the odds ratio is used to quantify the measure of associations between the variables of interest. To do Bayesian analysis, the complete exercise was conducted using R and R-Stan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study utilizes a bivariate BEKK-EGARCH model with the setting of a structural break to investigate whether the interactions between stock indices in emerging and developed markets are different in terms of region, emerging stock indices, and subperiod. Then, this study investigated how the results of interactions vary with geographical location, emerging stock indices, and subperiod. Empirical results show that the interactions between emerging and developed markets indeed vary with geographical location and emerging stock indices, but are almost the same in the two subperiods. For example, for the paired stock indices in 'Asia-America' and 'Asia-Europe', or related to 'XU100', 'SSE' and 'BSE', the developed market mainly spills into the emerging market in terms of return and volatility. The findings from these empirical results can help investors and fund managers undertake different investment strategies in different regions and subperiods, and make effective investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial-advisor misconduct often has devastating consequences, leading lawmakers to seek tightened investor protections at the federal level. But many advisors can choose whether to be regulated under the federal regime or instead be overseen by state insurance regulators, giving advisors with a history of misconduct reason to select the laxer state-level regulatory environment. Despite extensive debate over the regulation of financial advice, no prior work has examined those incentives. Using a novel dataset, this Article identifies thousands of financial advisors who have committed serious misconduct and exited the federal regulatory regime--yet continue to advise investors, often using state insurance licenses. Because lobbying has blurred the line between financial advice and insurance sales, current law lets wayward advisors continue to provide similar services under state insurance regulators' light touch. We show that advisors who do this are disproportionately likely to harm investors in the future. And they are overwhelmingly male: Women who have committed serious misconduct are more likely to exit financial services entirely. Our analysis identifies a limit of federal lawmaking in this area. Federal regulators necessarily rely on state regulators, who may become beholden to the interests of the insurance industry itself rather than the public. We show that more than one in ten state legislators who oversee insurance regulation are now, or were previously, in the business of selling insurance. We argue that existing tools for federal regulation of advisor misconduct risk the unintended consequence of pushing the worst advisors into poorly regulated state regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2019, Hong Kong issued a comprehensive regulation on robo-advisors in the capital markets, with a view to striking a balance between investor protection and innovation promotion. This regulation has generated some noticeable positive impact on the market, but some problems remain to be addressed. It is critically assessed by way of a comparison with the laws in the US, the UK, Singapore, and Mainland China. It has strengths in terms of regulatory form and approach, the comprehensiveness of guidance provided and clear allocation of responsibility. There are also several weaknesses and challenges. Firstly, greater efforts need to be made to ensure proper compliance and enforcement. Secondly, more attention should be paid to the increasing complexity of algorithms. Thirdly, the issue of outsourcing arrangements requires further thoughts. Finally, Hong Kong should consider a staged reform on its financial regulatory architecture to address the issue of regulatory arbitrage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate an optimal investment problem under two value-at-risk (VaR) constraints faced by a defined contribution (DC) pension fund manager. We apply a concavification technique and a Lagrange dual method to solve the problem and derive the closed-form representations of the optimal wealth and portfolio processes in terms of the state price density. Theoretical and numerical results show that the two VaR constraints can significantly impact the distribution of the optimal terminal wealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian financial planning sector has seen recent regulatory changes introduced to address misconduct. One such introduction surrounds increased levels of mandatory financial adviser education. This paper examines the Banning orders between March 2015 and March 2023 to identify relationships between levels of misconduct and education. Analysis of findings supports the validation of education requirements and outlines identifying properties assisting consumer decisions to avoid those advisers affiliated with misconduct. This research further explores avenues to develop the sector's professionalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liquidity and volatility are the two barometers that allow stock markets to appreciate in terms of attractiveness, profitability and efficiency. Several macroeconomic and microstructure variables condition the level of liquidity that directly impact the asset allocation decisions of different investor profiles - institutional and individuals - and therefore the dynamics of the market as a whole. Volatility is the regulatory component that provides information on the level of risk that characterizes the market. Thus, the appreciation of these two elements is of considerable help to fund managers looking to optimize their equity pockets. In this work, we will use the liquidity ratio as a proxy variable for the liquidity of the Moroccan stock market, to estimate the indicators and factors that determine its short- and long-term variability. The appropriate econometric method would be to estimate an error correction vector model (ECVM) which has the property of determining the longand short-term relationships between the variables. The volatility of the MASI index will be the subject of a second estimate to capture the shape of the function of its evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to findings in the field of environmental psychology, the architectural and social working environment have a significant impact on overall physical and psychological wellbeing and work performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between architectural and social working conditions, psychological features, and work performance. The 5-year, risk-adjusted (Sharpe) investment performance of 40 Finnish professional fund managers was compared with the characteristics of their work environment and the psychological features of stress tolerance, complex problem solving and risk attitude. The results are in line with earlier findings that open-plan offices have negative consequences on the performance of cognitively demanding tasks. The number of people in the immediate vicinity (the same room and department) had the strongest negative effect on performance, especially because of decreased stress tolerance. These results should be considered preliminary because of the small sample size; further verification using a larger sample is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving household asset allocation (HAA) ability can enable households to increase consumption and promote the steady growth of China's economy. However, HAA decisions in China are suboptimal. This may be related to households' limited financial literacy. Based on 2017 and 2019 China Household Finance Survey data, this study examines the role of financial literacy in improving HAA. It finds that the higher the household's financial literacy, the higher the household's score in the asset allocation evaluation because households with higher financial literacy pay greater attention to economic and financial news and are more inclined to seek advice from investment advisors. Further analysis shows that the optimization effect of financial literacy on HAA is greater in households that are wealthy, higher educated, and located in areas with better regional financial development. In conclusion, helping households improve their financial literacy is an important step toward improving HAA ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the financial literacy level of Indian professional women and its relation to their retirement planning behavior. We use factor analysis and the Rasch model to evaluate the validity and reliability of a financial literacy scale. Additionally, we use multiple regression to examine the association between demographic characteristics and financial literacy with retirement planning. Our results reveal that the respondents display low levels of financial literacy as reflected by a lack of awareness about both basic and advanced financial concepts. Further, a woman's age, income, profession (financial), and understanding of advanced financial concepts are key factors associated with retirement planning behavior. The findings have implications for financial planning professionals, advisors, regulators, and policymakers in guiding women to make better retirement decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates an optimal investment problem for an open-end fund with dynamic flows. The accumulated fund inflow and outflow processes are modeled by two independent compound Poisson processes, respectively. The fund manager allocates the fund capital between a risk-free asset and a risky asset. The correlation between the fund inflow process and the risky asset's price process is under consideration. Inspired by Berk and Van Binsbergen [(2015). Measuring skill in the mutual fund industry. Journal of Financial Economics, 118(1), 1–20], we first introduce the accumulated value added process to measure the fund performance. The manager aims to maximize the expected utility of the fund's accumulated value added. We derive the optimal investment strategy explicitly via dynamic programming approach. Furthermore, a verification theorem is provided and some properties of the optimal strategy are analyzed. Finally, sensitivity analysis is given to illustrate the effects of model parameters on the optimal strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

King Edward VIII's 1936 abdication has remained fixed in modern memory as a traumatic constitutional crisis wrapped in what many consider the most fateful love story of the century. The King's determination to marry Wallis Simpson, "the woman he loved," still feeds the mills of popular and academic history. The narrative, however, habitually focuses on the Anglocentric world of the Court of St. James, the Anglican hierarchy, and Stanley Baldwin's Conservative government. This focus overlooks the key role of non-British participants in the crisis. This article views the abdication through a significant Canadian prism. In London, Ontario-born banker Sir Edward Peacock (1871–1962) served as the Receiver-General of the Duchy of Cornwall, the investment trust designed to support the duties of the Prince of Wales. As such, Peacock became Edward's most intimate financial advisor as abdication loomed, a role now fully elaborated in light of hitherto unconsulted papers held at Queen's University. Press baron Lord Beaverbrook played a more public role, joining with Churchill, as the King's champion, using his mass-circulation newspapers to curry public sympathy for the beleaguered monarch. In Ottawa, Prime Minister Mackenzie King trod a characteristically cautious line between guarding Canada's autonomy, won under the 1931 Statute of Westminster, while still preserving its filial tie to Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on qualitative interviews with 20 college-aged Black males who graduated from one single-sex public charter school, this study investigated how students made meaning from their secondary school experiences and college preparation. Using relational trust as the theoretical framework, I looked specifically at the students' perceptions and relationships with their school counselor. Findings revealed that the school counselor's investment in students helped them see and envision their possibilities, increased their access to critical postsecondary information and opportunities, and enhanced their motivations and aspirations toward college success. This article discusses recommendations for future research and practical suggestions for school counselors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The investment advice field has undergone a perceptual change with respect to the skills of female investment advisors and portfolio managers. • Female financial advisors report that they do not feel gender discrimination, although they represent only 20-30% of the investment house workforce. • There is a gap between the declarative level of respondents, who indicated that they do not view the gender of the advisor as having an influence on the quality of the investment, and the hidden level, where respondents' preference for male over female advisors is still significant. • Respondents investing through investment houses showed a more egalitarian perception of female financial advisors. This study examines the effect of gender of financial advisors on the perception of the quality of investment advice. Based on expectation states theory (EST) as well as Social Role Theory (SRT), we aim to understand whether the perception of the quality of financial advice is affected by gender bias; that is, do people trust the ability of male financial advisors to earn profits more than female financial advisors' ability to do so? To analyze our assessments, we interviewed female financial advisors and conducted two quantitative studies. The first quantitative study, in which 1,600 respondents participated, examined whether the financial advisor's gender impacts how subjects appraise the probability of success versus the level of loss. This was followed by a second study designed to examine the presence of hidden gender bias by applying a conjoint analysis model. The results, as reflected from the interviews, indicated that female financial advisors do not feel discriminated against by clients on the basis of gender. This finding is consistent with the results of the first quantitative study, which showed gender bias was latent and revealed only in particular cases, such as in the case of a high investment amount. However, the conjoint analysis results, which explored more hidden preferences, indicated that the advisor's gender is one of the most important factors influencing a consumer's decision when choosing an investment advisor. Hence, female advisors' gender was found to have a negative effect on the desire to invest, and this negative attitude was found to be significantly higher among male respondents. Thus, the first study's result showed that when asked directly, participants are indifferent as to the financial advisor's gender, however, ideally people prefer male advisor over female, as shown in the second study. A summary of the findings shows that a perceptual change is still needed in order to reduce negative perceptions towards female advisors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vignette methodology is used to examine how the personal characteristics of investors and financial advisors contribute to portfolio recommendations, and the judgements that advisors make about investment knowledge and control of prospective millionaire UK clients. We find that advisors use investor characteristics to make recommendations broadly in line with economic theory and regulatory requirements. However, women are judged less knowledgeable and in control of their investments than equivalent men. They also receive portfolio recommendations with slightly lower risk profiles. Portfolio recommendations vary by advisor, with experienced advisors and those with wealthier clients recommending higher risk portfolios. Unmeasured advisor variables also impact on judgements and recommendations. These findings have relevance to the wealth management industry and regulators, in focusing attention on the conscious and unconscious influences on the judgements advisors make about their clients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is typical in collectively administered pension funds that employees delegate fund managers to invest their contributions. In addition, many pension funds still need to sustain guarantees (prescribed by law) in spite of the current low interest environment. In this paper, we consider an optimal collective investment problem for a pool of investors who (implicitly) demand minimum guarantees by deriving utility from the wealth exceeding their guarantees in two financial market settings, one with a stochastic and one with a constant volatility. We find that individual investors' well-being will not be worsened through the collective investment in both financial markets, as individual optimal solutions are attainable if a financially fair state-dependent sharing rule is applied. When more prevailing sharing rules like linear rules are applied, this holds no longer. Furthermore, the degree of sub-optimality imposed by linear sharing rules is more pronounced in the stochastic volatility market than in the constant volatility market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Integrated Territorial Investment mechanism (ITI) was implemented in Romania to the territory of ITI Danube Delta in the 2014-2020 programming period. In this respect, the present article aims to analyze the process of implementation of the ITI mechanism on the Danube Delta territory in order to find out the impact of its implementation on the socio-economic development of the area and on its resilience, as well as the main problems encountered by the responsible authorities for managing this programme and the beneficiaries of these funds. The research methodology consists of a survey conducted by using two questionnaires designed by the authors. The study had 42 participants from the fund managers' category and 71 participants from the beneficiaries' group. The study revealed a positive perception among all the participants which considered that ITI impacts the resilience of the Danube Delta territory to a medium extent. The most important problems encountered in the implementation process were the pre-financing process, the guides' conditions that are not adapted to the beneficiaries' needs and the public procurement process. The research revealed a high degree of satisfaction from both types of respondents regarding the ITI mechanism and a good relation between the managing institutions and beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies finite horizon portfolio management by optimally tracking a ratcheting capital benchmark process. It is assumed that the fund manager can dynamically inject capital into the portfolio account such that the total capital dominates a nondecreasing benchmark floor process at each intermediate time. The tracking problem is formulated to minimize the cost of accumulated capital injection. We first transform the original problem with floor constraints into an unconstrained control problem, but under a running maximum cost. By identifying a controlled state process with reflection, the problem is further shown to be equivalent to an auxiliary problem, which leads to a nonlinear Hamilton--Jacobi--Bellman (HJB) equation with a Neumann boundary condition. By employing the dual transform, the probabilistic representation, and some stochastic flow analysis, the existence of a unique classical solution to the HJB equation is established. The verification theorem is carefully proved, which gives a complete characterization of the feedback optimal portfolio. The application to market index tracking is also discussed when the index process is modeled by a geometric Brownian motion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study an asset allocation stochastic problem for a defined-contribution pension plan during the accumulation phase. We consider a financial market composed of a risk-free asset, an inflation-linked bond and the risky asset. The fund manager aims to maximize the expected power utility derived from the terminal wealth. Our solution allows one to incorporate a clause which allows for the distribution of a member's premiums to his surviving dependents, should the member die before retirement. Besides the mortality risk, our optimization problem takes into account salary and the inflation risks. We then obtain closed form solutions for the asset allocation problem using a sufficient maximum principle approach for the problem with partial information. Finally, we give a numerical example. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]