The 354th Wenlan Financial Forum

Abstract：

We study portfolio selections and returns of mutual funds with distinct mandates but common managers. We develop a simple model where managers acquire information on a limited investment universe, from which they select stocks for different funds. The model is tested on a sample of co-managed non-ESG and ESG funds. Consistent with our model, non-ESG funds select more and better-performing high ESG stocks when co-managed with an ESG sibling, and co-managed ESG funds select better-performing low ESG stocks. Finally, ESG funds outperform their non-ESG siblings, despite being constrained by ESG mandates. Managers’ favoritism to ESG funds partly explains this outperformance.

Speaker Introduction：

Haotian Xiang is currently an Associate Professor and Doctoral Supervisor in the Department of Finance at the Guanghua School of Management, Peking University. He obtained his Bachelor of Economics degree (majoring in Finance) from the Guanghua School of Management, Peking University in 2014, and his Doctor of Finance degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, USA in 2019. His main research interests include debt risk, financial regulation, ESG investment, and cryptocurrencies. His research成果 have been published in top domestic and international academic journals such as Journal of Financial Economics, Journal of Monetary Economics, Management Science, Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Financial Research, and China Economic Quarterly. He has also presented his research at authoritative academic conferences and received awards. He teaches multiple courses at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels, has won the Teaching Excellence Award of Peking University, and has been rated as an Excellent Class Advisor of Peking University. He serves as the Vice President of the Institute of Development Strategy for National High-Tech Industrial Development Zones, Peking University.