• "ETF Rebalancing, Hedge Fund Trades, and Capital Market" 

with George Wang and Chelsea Yao

Featured in: The FinReg Blog sponsored by the Duke Financial Economics Center; Yahoo! Finance

Selected Presentations: Melbourne Asset Pricing Meeting, 2023; FMA, 2023; EFMA, 2023; 12th Portugese Finance Network Conference, 2023; 8th Paris Financial Management Conference, 2022; 28th Finance Forum, Nova, 2021.

Abstract: The embedded transparency and predictability of ETF rebalancing creates opportunities for anticipatory arbitrage trading by hedge funds (HFs). We document that ETF rebalancing is associated with strong price distortions of underlying securities. HFs front-run ETFs by gradually adjusting their arbitrage positions before ETF rebalancing in both equity and option markets. The front-running exaggerates the price impact of non-fundamental demand and forces ETFs to buy high and sell low. We find causal evidence which relates HF front-running to ETF rebalancing by exploiting the unique event of index rebalancing postponement in March 2020. Our findings highlight the hidden costs of ETF rebalancing. 

• "Active Management and the Time-Varying Term Structure of Equity"

with Idan Hodor and Fernando Zapatero

Abstract: This paper identifies the aggregate trading of active mutual funds as an economically significant driver of the equity term structure. When funds collectively tilt their portfolios toward short-duration equities, the term structure of forward-looking monthly returns slopes sharply downward for the stocks they purchase most heavily. These tilting episodes are short-lived and dispersed over time, patterns that rule out slow-moving pricing factors. Funds tilting toward short-duration stocks outperform those tilting toward long-duration stocks by 1.8% the following month—but only during tilting periods. Our findings are consistent with equilibrium models in which asset managers are evaluated over short performance windows.

• "Post-environmental Incident Drift and Institutional Trades: Who Benefits from Environmental Shocks?"

with George Aragon and Chelsea Yao

• finalist for CFA Institute Asia-Pacific Research Exchange Award

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of environmental incidents on stock returns and institutional investors' trading patterns around environmental incidents, focusing on the strategic behavior of hedge funds. We show significant negative drift in stock returns following environmental incidents that persists over one quarter. We find significant selling pressure from banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, particularly in high ESG risk stocks. In contrast, hedge funds often purchase these stocks, capitalizing on temporary price depressions caused by divestment from environmentally conscious investors. Our analysis reveals that non-PRI hedge funds generate positive returns from this strategy, whereas PRI signatories do not exhibit similar trading behavior. This study enhances understanding of ESG incidents' market impacts and highlights the divergent strategies of institutional investors, with hedge funds playing a pivotal role in providing liquidity and exploiting opportunities arising from climate-related risks.

• "Against the Trend: Hedge Funds on the Other Side of Green Investing"

with George Aragon, George Wang, and Chelsea Yao

Abstract: We study hedge funds’ trading behavior in brown stocks. Specifically, we examine whether hedge funds exploit previously documented superior performance of brown firms and buy stocks with high carbon emissions. We show that hedge funds overweight brown stocks and underweight green stocks in their portfolios. We find that results are more pronounced in small hedge funds and non-PRI signatory hedge funds. We show that brown stocks purchased by hedge funds generate significant positive monthly returns. Interestingly, hedge funds buy brown stocks sold by mutual funds, which suggests that hedge funds trade on the other side of green investing

• "Under Pressure: Allegations and Behavior of Mutual Fund Managers"

with George Wang and Yue Zhang

Abstract: We investigate the impact of allegation occurrence on the mutual funds with mandatory disclosure. We find that investors avoid mutual funds involved in allegations and more likely to withdraw investments from mutual funds which are tainted to allegation in the subsequent two months. Interestingly, when considering the response of fund managers, allegation disclosure could cause excessive stress for manager as reflected in risk-shifting behaviour and more conservative trading. There is little evidence that more severe allegation leads to higher investor outflows. We find that stress of mutual fund managers is sensitive to the allegation fine amount, as they perform more conservative trades with larger fines.