Measuring Mutual Fund Flows

James J. Li and Lu Zheng

Financial Analysts Journal, 2025, vol. 81, issue 3, 27-59

Abstract: Most studies estimate mutual fund flows using the change in total net assets in excess of fund returns. This estimate differs from funds’ reported flows due to variations in the treatment of reinvested distributions, timing of flows, fund mergers, and more. We review the literature on the determinants of mutual fund flows and the consequences of mutual fund flows on asset prices and firm behavior. We find that different flow measures can produce different inferences on key relationships in fund and securities markets, such as the relationship between investor flows and fund performance, and how fund flows impact security returns. We emphasize the tradeoffs of these different methodologies for understanding flow patterns in the fund marketplace and its broader consequences.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/0015198X.2025.2521233 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:ufajxx:v:81:y:2025:i:3:p:27-59

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/ufaj20

DOI: 10.1080/0015198X.2025.2521233

Access Statistics for this article

Financial Analysts Journal is currently edited by Maryann Dupes

More articles in Financial Analysts Journal from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().