Explaining mutual fund behavior through the structure‐conduct‐performance lens

Abstract

AbstractThis paper examines mutual funds. These are economically important as the largest institutional investors, and form an important principal‐agent relationship as custodians of retirement savings. Despite a huge literature, there is no agreed explanation of mutual fund behavior. This analysis links mutual fund research across disciplines under the structure‐conduct‐performance paradigm (SCP), which is widely used in strategy research to explain firm actions and results. SCP explains mutual fund actions after placing the fund manager at the center of fund operations, where their conduct is driven by structure of markets and the funds management industry. Structural influences on fund managers include unpredictability of markets, the oligopolistic nature of the mutual fund industry, and disengagement of clients. As a result, funds derive income as commission on assets under management, which is sub‐optimal for clients. In addition, fund managers' conduct is driven by their homogeneity and socialization with competitors and investee firms. While the most obvious role of fund managers is construction of investment portfolios, outperformance is not their sole, or perhaps even principal, objective. The SCP lens offers insights into mutual funds of value to fund managers, investors, regulators and executives of investee firms. This paper impounds evidence from real‐world data in theory to offer an actor‐centric perspective of investment which is an archetypal practitioner driven discipline.