Working Paper
It Pays to Set the Menu: Mutual Fund Investment Options in 401(k) plans
Abstract: This paper investigates whether mutual fund families acting as service providers in 401(k) plans display favoritism toward their own funds. Using a hand-collected dataset on retirement investment options, we show that poorly-performing funds are less likely to be removed from and more likely to be added to a 401(k) menu if they are affiliated with the plan trustee. We find no evidence that plan participants undo this affiliation bias through their investment choices. Finally, the subsequent performance of poorly-performing affiliated funds indicates that these trustee decisions are not information driven.
Keywords: 401(k) pension plans; mutual funds; favoritism;
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http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/feds/2014/files/201496pap.pdf
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Bibliographic Information
Provider: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)
Part of Series: Finance and Economics Discussion Series
Publication Date: 2014-08-27
Number: 2014-96
Pages: 71 pages