The journey is the reward: A study of corporate site visits and mutual fund performance

Abstract

Institutional investors often visit corporate sites to conduct first-hand assessments of firms' business operations and management quality. We find that corporate site visits contribute significantly to mutual fund performance in China. Our results indicate that corporate site visiting is an important part of mutual funds' stock selection process. Fund managers utilize these visiting activities as a verification channel to affirm their selection of outperforming stocks. The impact on fund performance is stronger when funds are active, have more concentrated equity holdings or invest in small-cap stocks. Performance enhancement is more profound when mutual funds visit firms with high information disclosure quality, and when fund managers have an alumni connection with corporate executives.