Asset Sales in the Mutual Fund Industry: Who Gains?
47 Pages Posted: 23 Aug 2013 Last revised: 22 Jan 2015
There are 2 versions of this paper
Asset Sales in the Mutual Fund Industry: Who Gains?
Date Written: July 19, 2013
Abstract
We analyze gains from intercorporate sales of mutual fund subsidiaries, using mandated SEC disclosures to assess the performance of mutual funds transferred by these transactions. Sellers are financial conglomerates (banks) using equity-based deals to transfer poorly performing funds to highly focused asset management companies. The transferred funds experience significant improvements in risk-adjusted returns, efficiency, and asset growth. These improvements are closely correlated with the gains in wealth to buyers and sellers at deal announcements, indicating the market efficiently capitalizes expected performance improvements. Our results provide evidence that these transactions transfer assets to acquirers better able to manage them, generating gains for fund holders and buyer and seller shareholders.
Keywords: Asset sales, mutual funds, focus, divestitures
JEL Classification: G2, G34
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation