Mutual Fund Performance and Flows During the COVID-19 Crisis

40 Pages Posted: 10 Jul 2020

See all articles by Lubos Pastor

Lubos Pastor

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

Blair Vorsatz

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

Multiple version iconThere are 4 versions of this paper

Date Written: July 10, 2020

Abstract

We present a comprehensive analysis of the performance and flows of U.S. actively-managed equity mutual funds during the COVID-19 crisis of 2020. We find that most active funds underperform passive benchmarks during the crisis, contradicting a popular hypothesis. Funds with high sustainability ratings perform well, as do funds with high star ratings. Fund outflows largely extend pre-crisis trends. Investors favor funds that apply exclusion criteria and funds with high sustainability ratings, especially environmental ones. Our finding that investors remain focused on sustainability during this major crisis suggests they view sustainability as a necessity rather than a luxury good.

Suggested Citation

Pastor, Lubos and Vorsatz, Blair, Mutual Fund Performance and Flows During the COVID-19 Crisis (July 10, 2020). University of Chicago, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Working Paper No. 2020-96, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3648407 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3648407

Lubos Pastor (Contact Author)

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

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Blair Vorsatz

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

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