Working paper
OA Policy
English

Skill, scale, and value creation in the mutual fund industry

Publication date2021
Abstract

We develop a flexible and bias-adjusted approach to jointly examine skill, scalability, and value added across individual funds. We find that skill and scalability (i) vary substantially across funds, and (ii) are strongly related as great investment ideas are difficult to scale up. The combination of skill and scalability produces a value added that (i) is positive for the majority of funds, and (ii) approaches its optimal level after an adjustment period possibly due to investors' learning. These results are consistent with theoretical models in which funds are skilled and able to extract economic rents from capital markets.

Keywords
  • Mutual funds
  • Skill
  • Scale
  • Value added
  • Nonparametric estimation
  • Large panel
  • Error-in-variable bias
Classification
  • JEL : G11
Citation (ISO format)
BARRAS, Laurent, SCAILLET, Olivier, GAGLIARDINI, Patrick. Skill, scale, and value creation in the mutual fund industry. 2021 doi: 10.1111/jofi.13096
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Technical informations

Creation06/04/2021 08:01:00
First validation06/04/2021 08:01:00
Update06/01/2026 13:44:25
Status update06/01/2026 13:44:25
Last indexation06/01/2026 13:48:15
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