European Fund Managers Research Articles

Management of European funds. Case study: Neamț and Constanța counties, Romania

The present research aims to investigate and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the management of European funds in two distinct counties of Romania: Neamț County and Constanța County. European funds represent a significant resource for the economic, social and infrastructural development of the country, and the way in which they are administered and used has a significant impact on regional progress. Our comparative analysis focuses on identifying the significant differences between the two counties regarding the attraction, management and use of European money. The obtained results reveal significant differences in the approach and performance of European funds management between the two counties, highlighting the key factors that influence this process. Our research not only contributes to the understanding of how European funds are managed at the regional level in Romania, but also provides practical recommendations for improving the management of these resources in both counties. The positive impact of European funds on agricultural businesses in the two counties is obvious, contributing to the improvement and modernization of the agricultural sector.

20 YEARS OF EUROPEAN FUNDS’ MANAGEMENT – WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED AND WHAT IS TO DO NEXT? A PRACTITIONER’S PERSPECTIVE

The management of European funds was part of the public agenda, in a consistent manner, for the past 15 to 20 years. Although visible progress has been made since the moment Romania started to access pre-accession funds (Phare, ISPA, SAPARD), to date, with direct effects on the economic growth, the efficiency in implementing it suffered a lot due to the political spectrum intervention, the human resource involved, the volatile administrative framework or even due to the influence, sometimes unwelcomed, of the private sector. The present material tries to unveil some of the causes that affected the implementation of European projects, and also to offer a range of solutions for a better management of it, taking into consideration the fact that the new programming period, 2021-2027, is at our doorstep.

20 YEARS OF EUROPEAN FUNDS’ MANAGEMENT – WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED AND WHAT IS TO DO NEXT? A PRACTITIONER’S PERSPECTIVE

The management of European funds was part of the public agenda, in a consistent manner, for the past 15 to 20 years. Although visible progress has been made since the moment Romania started to access pre-accession funds (Phare, ISPA, SAPARD), to date, with direct effects on the economic growth, the efficiency in implementing it suffered a lot due to the political spectrum intervention, the human resource involved, the volatile administrative framework or even due to the influence, sometimes unwelcomed, of the private sector. The present material tries to unveil some of the causes that affected the implementation of European projects, and also to offer a range of solutions for a better management of it, taking into consideration the fact that the new programming period, 2021-2027, is at our doorstep.

Políticas europeas y gobernanza metropolitana: una asignatura pendiente

La sociedad europea es mayoritariamente urbana. A pesar de ello, las áreas metropolitanas no gozan de reconocimiento político a escala europea y, en la mayoría de los casos, tampoco a escala nacional. En este artículo hacemos un análisis comparado de los modelos de gobernanza metropolitana en Europa a partir de cuatro variables: la fragmentación del territorio, las competencias de naturaleza metropolitana, el tipo de financiación y el tipo de representación. En la mayoría de países europeos no existen gobiernos metropolitanos con competencias exclusivas y autonomía fiscal, aunque las tendencias recientes de reformas en Italia y Francia se enmarcan en un mayor reconocimiento de la realidad metropolitana. La ausencia de gobiernos metropolitanos fuertes contrasta con la evolución del diseño de los fondos europeos, en el que se ha ido incluyendo progresivamente la dimensión urbana de las políticas. A pesar de todo, la gestión de fondos europeos por parte de autoridades metropolitanas sigue siendo minoritaria, lo que plantea un reto para la gobernanza metropolitana.

Governance, institutions and innovation in rural territories: The case of Coruche innovation network

AbstractThe paper presents the results of a research on governance and innovation dynamics involved in a Portuguese rural territory—Coruche, the so‐called capital of cork. By presenting research on innovation dynamics using a particular raw material and a particular rural territory (Coruche), the research fulfils two objectives: (i) contribute to the extant literature, by addressing an empirical context that has been neglected by most innovation scholars, that is, rural territories and traditional sectors, namely agro‐forest industry; and (ii) highlight different novelties and territorial dynamics related with cork production and transformation and governance aspects of this particular system of innovation. The use of a network analysis allows the characterization of this system, the different types of actors (multi‐actor), their interactions framed by institutions, and operating at different territorial scales (multi‐scale). The governance of cork‐based activities in this territory includes important transformation companies, forest producers, professional and development associations, and public administration entities with competences in regulation and the development of the territory, including the management of European Funds. The local presence of a multinational enterprise introduces interesting issues related with its attachment to the territory including the creation of employment and the collaboration with local entities in activities and events related with cork production and transformation.

Fees and Ticks

With fee structures under scrutiny, European fund managers must prove they add value or risk being scratched off by investors who feel bitten by high costs.

Econometric Modelling of the Perceptions Students have Regarding the Probability of Finding a Job in the Field of the Master’s Programme

The labour market in any field becomes more and more demanding and specialized, professional. For a more efficient absorption of graduates, the professional environment requires both advanced theoretical knowledge and practical abilities. During the study period, based on rational mechanisms, students form a perception related to the probability of finding an adequate job. In this article we model the constructed perceptions through Ordered Logit models. The application regards 88 students from two Romanian universities. The programme they are involved in is called “The Audit and Financial Management of European Funds”. The results obtained are in accordance with the logical mechanisms evidenced in the theoretical part. The explanatory variables that are statistically significant relate both to the scholarly results and to the student’s status on the labour market. The conclusions drawn are not limited only to the evaluated sample. They are easy to generalize, with necessary changes, to any university specialization.

Does Industry Size Matter? Revisiting European Mutual Fund Performance

This paper revisits the performance of European mutual funds using a more recent and extensive survivorship bias free database of 16,055 equity funds over the 1992-2006 period. Earlier evidence by Otten & Bams (2002) pointed to an exceptional position of European mutual funds. In sharp contrast to for instance the United States, the authors documented that European mutual funds were able to add value, based on their positive alphas. Otten & Bams (2002) contributed that ability to the relative small size of the European mutual fund industry compared to the total stock market (around 13% in 1998). By 2005 this size has almost doubled to 25%. The main motivation for our study is to examine whether this had an impact on the ability of European mutual funds to beat the market. Our main results are four-fold. First, we indeed find that European mutual funds deliver significantly negative 4-factor Carhart alpha’s during this more recent period. The larger current size of the European mutual fund industry makes it more difficult for managers to add value. These results are now more in line with earlier results for US funds. Second, passive funds perform even worse than active funds, leaving us with a puzzle. It might be that passive funds are not pure indextrackers but active funds in disguise. Third, adding back TER’s and loads make most alphas insignificantly different from zero. Which means that European fund managers are able to follow the market but charge investors too much for this. Fourth, we find strong persistence in performance in all investigated countries over both 6 and 12 month holding periods.

European mutual funds and portfolio's country exposure: does active management add value?

Daily fund data and Sharpe's (1992) style methodology are used to evaluate the performance and forecasting skill of European mutual fund managers. Specifically, this study addresses the following question: do European fund managers add value to their investors by actively managing their portfolio's country exposure? To look into this issue, a methodology based on attribution returns is employed. An attribution return is defined as the difference between a fund's actual month t return and the return that would have been generated by the fund month t − 1 portfolio's country exposure. European fund managers, as a group, add value to their investors by managing their portfolio's country exposure as evidenced by a positive mean attribution return. Also, during the same sample period but based on the more traditional performance measure alpha, these funds outperform a regional benchmark and both measures are found to be positively correlated.

European Mutual Fund Performance

This paper presents an overview of the European mutual fund industry and investigates mutual fund performance using a survivorship bias controlled sample of 506 funds from the five most important mutual fund countries. The latter is done using the Carhart (1997) 4‐factor asset‐pricing model. In addition we investigate whether European fund managers exhibit ‘hot hands’, persistence in performance. Finally the influence of fund characteristics on risk‐adjusted performance is considered. Our overall results suggest that European mutual funds, and especially small cap funds are able to add value, as indicated by their positive after cost alphas. If we add back management fees, four out of five countries exhibit significant out‐performance at an aggregate level. Finally, we detect strong persistence in mean returns for funds investing in the UK. Our results deviate from most US studies that argue mutual funds under‐perform the market by the amount of expenses they charge.

European Community Policy in France: The State Bounces Back

The implementation of European policy in France is far from having brought about a definitive decline of the state. Admittedly, over the last ten years, French local authorities have taken a very dynamic role in the management of European funds. Likewise, the state, which is not the principal user of European funds, cannot avoid the sharing of power, which is required by the Community principles of partnership and subsidiarity. This does not mean, however, that the state has stepped aside completely. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that it has reorganised itself. After the strong mobilisation of the local authorities at the time of the reform of the structural funds (1989-1993), since 1994 we have noted a major redeployment of the state, which has adopted the role of intermediary between Europe and the local level. The state has rebuilt its margin for manoeuvre through its administration in the regions, whose role has been reinforced throughout the 1990s, following ten years of decentralisation. In short, the example of the implementation of European policy bears testimony to the major changes taking place in the French political system: the state of the 1990s may no longer be the interventionist, centralised state which characterised the 'French exception' for two centuries, but it is far from having withered away completely in favour of regional or local government. On the contrary, little by little, it is imposing itself in the role of a state which coordinates and arbitrates and whose future lies, paradoxically, in its ability to impose itself as a central figure on the local and regional scenes.

European Mutual Fund Performance; A Survey

This paper presents an overview of the European mutual fund industry and investigates mutual fund performance using a survivorship bias controlled sample of 506 funds from the 5 most important mutual fund countries. The latter is done using the Carhart (1997) 4-factor asset-pricing model. In addition we investigate whether European fund managers exhibit hot hands, persistence in performance. Finally the influence of fund characteristics on risk-adjusted performance is considered. Our overall results suggest that European mutual funds, and especially small cap funds are able to add value, as indicated by their positive after cost alphas. If we add back management fees, 4 out of 5 countries exhibit significant out-performance at an aggregate level. Finally, we detect strong persistence in mean returns for funds investing in the United Kingdom. Our results deviate from most US studies that argue mutual funds under-perform the market by the amount of expenses they charge.