Abstract

Identifying outperforming mutual funds ex-ante is a notoriously difficult task. We use machine learning to exploit fund characteristics and construct portfolios of equity funds that earn positive and significant out-of-sample alpha net of all costs. In contrast, alphas of portfolios selected with OLS are indistinguishable from zero. We show that the performance of machine-learning methods is the joint outcome of exploiting multiple fund characteristics and allowing for flexibility in the relation between characteristics and performance. Our results hold also for portfolios of only retail funds, for various measures of fund performance, for different methodological choices, and across different market conditions.

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.