This study documents the price behavior of closed-end funds after an initial public offering. The comparison of aftermarket price performance of closed-end funds with a control sample of similar size equity IPOs indicates that closed-end funds, on average, underperform other initial public offerings. IPOs of U.S. stock and foreign stock closed-end funds experience significant losses in value. An examination of institutional holdings of IPOs of closed-end funds indicates that individual investors are most affected by the substantial decline.

Closed-End Investment Companies (CEICs) have experienced a significant revival of interest, both as investment vehicles and as the subject of academic research, over the past decade. This academic research has focused on the nature of closed-end funds' discounts and premiums and on the share price behavior of these firms. The first book by the authors, "Closed-End Investment Companies: Issues and Answers," addresses closed-end fund academic articles published prior to 1991. This second book addresses those articles that have appeared since that time. Closed-End Fund Pricing: Theories and Evidence is designed for the academic researcher interested in CEICs and the practitioner interested in using CEICs as an investment vehicle. The authors summarize the evolution of CEICs, present the factors thought to cause CEIC shares to trade at different levels from their net asset values, provide a complete survey of the recent academic literature on this topic, and summarize the current state of research on CEICs.

How to prevent runs on open-end mutual funds? In recent years, markets have observed an innovation that changed the way open-end funds are priced. Alternative pricing rules (known as swing pricing) adjust funds’ net asset values to pass on funds’ trading costs to transacting shareholders. Using unique data on investor transactions in U.K. corporate bond funds, we show that swing pricing eliminates the first-mover advantage arising from the traditional pricing rule and significantly reduces redemptions during stress periods. The positive impact of alternative pricing rules on fund flows reverses in calm periods when costs associated with higher tracking error dominate the pricing effect.

Closed-End Investment Companies (CEICs) were the dominant form of investment companies in the United States during the early part of this century, but interest in them declined after the 1929 stock market crash. Since 1985, however, there has been a significant revival of interest in CEICs. A substantial amount of academic research has focused on the nature of closed-end funds, discounts and premiums, and on the share price behavior of these firms, which often results in the prices differing from the net asset value of the shares. This book is designed for the academic researcher interested in CEICs and the practitioner interested in using CEICs as an investment vehicle. The authors summarize the evolution of CEICs, present the factors that cause CEIC shares to trade at different levels from their net asset values, provide a complete survey of the academic literature on this topic, and summarize the current state of research on CEICs.