Mutual Fund Shareholder Letters: Flows, Performance, and Managerial Behavior

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hillert, Alexander; Niessen-Ruenzi, Alexandra; Ruenzi, Stefan
• 署名单位: Goethe University Frankfurt; University of Mannheim
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.03417
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: fund flows; Textual analysis; shareholder letters; investment styles

摘要

Fund companies regularly send shareholder letters to their investors. We use textual analysis to investigate whether these letters' writing style influences fund flows and whether it predicts performance and investment styles. Fund investors react to the tone and content of shareholder letters: a less negative tone leads to higher net flows. Thus, fund companies can use shareholder letters as a tactical instrument to influence flows. However, at the same time, a dishonest communication that is not consistent with the fund's actual performance decreases flows. A positive writing style predicts higher idiosyncratic risk as well as more style bets, whereas there is no consistent predictive power for future performance.