The asset management, and more specifically the mutual fund industry, is facing major strategic challenges. Although the market is growing overall, its growth attracts a steady stream of new entrants and new products that jeopardize the position and profitability of (large) incumbent firms. In order to cope with this setting, Andreas Mattig focuses on a holistic market model to sketch the mutual fund industry structure. This allows to propose a new measurement approach and to track the industrial dynamics. Based on these theoretical contributions, he concentrates on governance aspects and moulds the results into a practice-oriented strategic framework.

Mutual funds form the bedrock of retirement savings in the United States, and, considering their rapid growth over recent decades, are sure to become even more financially critical in the coming decades. Because the size of fees paid by investors to mutual fund advisers can strongly affect the return on investment, these fees have become contentious in Congress and the courts, with many arguing that investment advisers grow rich at the expense of investors. This groundbreaking book not only conceptualizes a new economic model for the industry but uses this model to test price competition between investment advisers. Its highly experienced authors track the growth of the industry over the past twenty-five years and present the arguments and evidence both for and against theories of adviser malfeasance, as well as the assertion that market forces fail to protect investors' returns from excessive fees. The volume briefly reviews the regulatory history of mutual fund fees and leading case decisions addressing excessive fees. It also reveals the extent to which the governance structure of mutual funds impacts fund performance. There is no greater text for those who seek to understand today's mutual fund industry, including investors, money managers, fund directors, securities lawyers, economists, and those concerned with regulatory policy toward mutual funds

The original impetus for this research was provided several years ago by a request to assist Counsel for Fidelity Management and Research Corporation in analyzing the mutual fund industry, with particular emphasis on money market mutual funds. We were asked to focus our efforts on the mechanism by which the advisory fees of mutual funds are determined. This request arose out of litigation that challenged the level of advisory fees charged to the shareholders of the Fidelity Cash Reserve Fund. Subsequently, we were asked to provide similar assistance to Counsel for T. Rowe Price Associates regarding the fees charged to shareholders of their Prime Reserve Fund. 1940, advisers of Under the Investment Company Act of mutual funds have a fiduciary duty with respect to the level of fees they may charge a fund's shareholders. Since the passage of the Investment Company Act, there have been numerous lawsuits brought by shareholders alleging that advisory fees were excessive. In these lawsuits, the courts have failed to provide a set of standards for determining when such fees are excessive. Instead, they have relied on arbitrary and frequently ill-defined criteria for jUdging the reasonableness of fees. This failure to apply economic-based tests for evaluating the fee structure of mutual funds provided the motivation for the present book, which undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the economics of the mutual fund industry.

"A terrific new book." --- Chuck Jaffe, MarketWatch.com --

Mutual funds are the dominant form of investment companies in the United States today, with approximately $7 trillion in assets under management. Over the past half century an important body of academic research has addressed various issues about the nature of these companies. These works focus on a wide range of topics, including fund performance, investment style, and expense issues, among others. MUTUAL FUNDS: Fifty Years of Research Findings is designed for the academic researcher interested in the various issues surrounding mutual funds and for the practitioner interested in funds for investment purposes. The authors briefly trace the historical evolution of funds, present important aspects of the Investment Company Act of 1940, and then summarize a substantial portion of the academic literature which has been written over the past five decades. "This book presents an outstanding wealth of information on mutual funds in a remarkably readable format. It is probably the most comprehensive work currently available on funds. The book sheds light on the numerous issues surrounding mutual fund performance and pricing and is an important resource for any serious investor." Kathleen A. Wayner, Bowling Portfolio Management, President and CEO 513.871.7776

This article describes the evolution of the Brazilian mutual fund industry, its regulatory framework, organization, types of investors and managers, economic environment and its relative growth. It shows the evolution of this industry in Brazil and its idiosyncrasies providing a deeper look into one of the largest emerging market mutual fund industries. It emphasizes the growth of independent managers with more complex assets and sophisticated strategies that resemble international hedge funds. There are many popular and academic explanations for the mutual funds growth, some of which were tested in this article using a time series framework. The results suggest that financial market innovation and market risk are significant variables in explaining growth. Common variables like economic growth, regulation and taxes were not found to be statistically significant. We conclude with a comparison between the evolution of the Brazilian and US mutual fund industries.