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The uncertainty as to whether investments in riskier and less efficient markets allow managers to ‘beat the market’ remains a question to which answers are required. Accordingly, the purpose of this chapter is to offer new insights on portfolios of the US, European and Emerging Market (‘EM’) domiciled equity mutual funds whose objectives are the investment in emerging economies, and specifically analyses two main issues: alpha generation and the influence of the funds’ characteristics on their risk-adjusted performance.

The dataset is made up a survivorship-bias controlled sample of 137 equity funds over the period January 2004 to December 2014, which are then grouped into equally weighted portfolios according to the scheme’s origin. The Jensen’s (1968) Single-Factor model along with the Fama and French’s (1993) and Carhart’s (1997) multifactor models are employed to authenticate results and answer both research questions.

Research analysis reveals that EM exposed fund managers fail to collectively outperform the market. It thereby offers ground to believe that the emerging world is very close to being efficient, proving that the Efficient Market Hypothesis (‘EMH’) ideal exists in this scenario where market inefficiency might only be a perception of market participants as any apparent opportunity to achieve above-average returns is speedily snapped up by very active managers. Overall these managers take a conservative approach to portfolio construction, whereby they are more unperturbed investing in large cap equity funds so as to lessen somewhat the exposure towards risks associated with liquidity, stability and volatility.

Furthermore, the findings show that large-sized equity portfolios have the lead over the medium and small-sized competitors, whilst the high cost and mature collective investment vehicles enjoy an alpha which although is negative is superior to their peers. The riskiest funds generated the lowest alpha, and thereby produced doubts as to whether investors should accept a higher risk for the hope of earning higher returns, at least when aiming to gain an exposure into the emerging world.

Mutual fund performance is not an innovative topic so to speak. Nonetheless, researchers and academia have centred their efforts on appraising the behaviour of fund managers domiciled primarily in developed and more efficient economics, leaving the emerging region highly uncovered in this respect. This study, therefore aims at crafting meaningful contributions to the literature as well as to the practical perspective.

The purpose of the paper is to describe the recent amendments to FINRA's IPO Allocation Rule that were approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The paper provides a description of the IPO Allocation Rule and its operation, followed by a description of the IPO Allocation Rule amendments recently amended.

On November 27, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved a change to FINRA's IPO allocation rule 5131 (the “amendment”). The amendment allows a fund of funds or other collective investment account that is investing in an IPO to rely on a written representation from an unaffiliated private fund investor that does not look through to its beneficial owners, provided that such unaffiliated private fund is managed by an investment adviser, has assets greater than $50 million, and meets certain other indicia of independence that are described.

The paper provides practical guidance from experienced regulatory lawyers regarding an amendment to an important rule governing IPO sales and allocation practices.

This paper aims to explain how the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, as modified by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, changes the way the US Internal Revenue Service will conduct audits of collective investment vehicles treated as partnerships for US tax purposes.

This study explains the entities covered by the new partnership audit regime, the effective dates of the new regime and steps to be taken by funds covered by the new audit regime.

The results show that the new regime creates a liability at the partnership level for any unpaid tax, placing the tax burden on current-year partners.

A fund manager should determine whether the new audit regime is applicable to any of the funds he or she is managing and, if so, amend the fund documents to accommodate the new audit rules, providing a mechanism to elect and supervise a partnership representative, a mechanism to allocate the economic burden of the tax to the appropriate partners and a procedure for selecting the method to calculate the amount of the fund’s tax liability attributable to an audit.

This study provides practical guidance from experienced investment, fund and tax lawyers.

To explain the shadow banking regime that will be enforced in the European Union by local regulators starting in January 2017.

Recognising the regulatory-induced difficulties in the process of identifying certain types of clients (investment funds) as shadow banking entities, this article provides a decision tree for the shadow banking classification process in order to aid the impacted institutions with the assessment of their clients. With this in mind, the article advises the impacted institutions on the specific steps that should be taken when assessing investment funds for shadow banking flags. Furthermore, the article provides insights into the information required to conduct the shadow banking classification process.

The regime requires the impacted institutions to assess their clients for shadow banking flags in order to impose limits on credit lines to clients classified as shadow banking entities. The US regulatory jurisdiction will be impacted over a longer term.

The recommendations in this article will be especially useful for investment funds to ensure that the relevant information is clearly stated in their prospectuses in order to avoid being classified as shadow banking entities.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's new rule for IPO allocation and the requirements for compliance with the rule.

The paper provides an overview of the new FINRA Rule 5131, containing, among other things, provisions that prohibit the “spinning” of IPO shares to certain present and prospective investment banking clients. Specifically, the paper outlines the new regulations on “quid pro quo” allocations, “spinning”, “flipping” and IPO pricing and trading practices. The paper also provides detailed guidance to broker‐dealers regarding their obligations under the rule.

The proposed new rule is intended to prevent the following types of conduct: the allocation of IPO shares as consideration or inducement for the payment of excessive compensation for other services provided by the member; the acceptance of market orders of IPO shares prior to the development of a secondary market; the allocation of IPO shares to an executive officer or director of a company on the condition that the officer or director send the company's investment banking business to the member, or as consideration for investment banking services previously rendered; and the imposition of a penalty on registered representatives whose retail customers have “flipped” IPO shares when similar penalties have not been imposed with respect to syndicate members.

The paper provides practical guidance from experienced regulatory lawyers regarding an important proposed change.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the proposed Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) regulations released on February 8, 2012 by the US Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The paper provides an overview of the changes to prior FATCA guidance in the proposed regulations, including the definition of a foreign financial institution (FFI), due diligence requirements to identify US accounts, procedures to verify compliance, phase‐in information required to be reported, verification procedures, definitions of FFIs that are “deemed” to meet the FATCA requirements, definition of “passthru” payments, explanation of exemptions from withholding related to certain “grandfathered obligations,” temporary relief for FFIs with non‐compliant affiliates, and a proposed intergovernmental approach to FATCA implementation through domestic reporting and reciprocal automatic exchange of information.

The paper reveals that the FATCA grew out of Congressional concern that US taxpayers were evading taxes by failing to report US‐source income on assets held abroad. The FATCA legislation left many of the details on implementation to the US Treasury and IRS. The intergovernmental framework is not a done deal. The proposed reciprocal, automatic exchange of information would be a sea change from existing US information reporting practices and is sure to be controversial.

The paper provides expert guidance from experienced financial institutions lawyers.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to the distribution of mutual funds around the world, including a background on the lack of sales of US funds offshore and initial practical legal and compliance considerations regarding fund structure, multi‐jurisdictional compliance, and strategic approaches.

From the perspective of a legal practitioner with hands‐on experience in this area, the paper analyzes possible legal and compliance reasons why US‐registered funds have not benefited from recent developments in the international distribution of mutual funds and do not yet enjoy widespread investment flows from retail foreign investors. The paper discusses some of the practical issues around offshore‐domiciled fund structural considerations, then outlines a few critical considerations asset management companies that their legal counsel and compliance personnel should engage in prior to launching and selling offshore funds to international investors.

The paper reveals that strong tax considerations appear to be a major reason why US funds have not been successful offshore, effective offshore options have developed as alternatives, and serious compliance and legal traps for the unwary remain in this complex multi‐jurisdictional area.

A synthesized multi‐jurisdictional review reveals an inconsistency among countries due to the varying stages in regulatory maturity. This means there may be further opportunity in sharing and making more consistent such regulatory regimes and optimizing capital flows and investment choices among otherwise likely similar emerging sets of investor classes.

Strong consideration should be given to making US funds more competitive offshore via changes in the tax code. Continuing caution should be practiced as fund managers new to this area find it necessary to compete internationally for assets.

This paper sets forth a summary compendium of multijurisdictional legal and compliance knowledge heretofore contained in multiple practice areas with limited availability of focused resources to business decision makers.

This study aims to examine style-deviation practices in the socially responsible mutual funds (SMRF) industry i.e. how mutual funds game their stated financial objectives to earn a higher relative performance ranking. In addition, the consequences of such practices on sustainable scores and money flows are studied.

A sample of 454 US equity SRMFs is studied. This paper uses panel regressions controlling for time and style fixed-effects.

This study finds that 17.60% of SRMF managers in the sample are engaged in style deviation practices. These practices positively impact the sustainable performance of SRMFs and negatively impact their financial performance. One effect offsets the other and they consequently do not affect money flows. Another finding is that only investors with lower portfolio sustainability scores do show return-chaser behaviour.

This paper reveals that SRMF managers deviating from their stated financial style face a dilemma that is non-existent for their conventional peers that is style deviation practices affect financial and sustainable performance in opposing ways, whereas SRMF investor utility depends positively on both dimensions. The findings are not conclusive about the effectiveness of style deviation practices in attracting SRMF money flows.

SRMF industry has experienced tremendous growth in the past decade. The increased competition in this industry has led managers to strive to attract investors, sometimes by relying on irregular practices that enhance their portfolio results. Regulators should consider how to avoid such perverse behaviour with a view to improving mutual funds transparency.

This is the first research that analyses style deviation practices and their consequences for the SRMF industry.

To summarize the principal aspects of USA tax legislation commonly known as the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act” (“FATCA”) that may be relevant to non-USA investment funds.

Reviews the potential application of FATCA to non-USA investment funds in a question-and-answer format and summarizes the key FATCA compliance obligations that may apply to such funds.

FATCA presents a number of compliance and operational challenges for non-USA investment funds. Such funds should be aware of their status under FATCA and resulting compliance responsibilities to ensure that they are compliant with FATCA and thus not subject to USA withholding tax.

Practical guidance from experienced tax and investment funds lawyers that summarizes a complex body of law in a concise format.

The UK is one of the few countries in Europe that is not facing a serious pensions crisis. The reasons for this are straightforward: state pensions are among the lowest in Europe, the UK has a long‐standing funded private pension sector, its population is ageing less rapidly than elsewhere in Europe and its governments have, since the beginning of the 1980s, taken measures to prevent a pension crisis developing. This article reviews the policies that have been implemented over the last two decades. It describes and analyses the defects in the Thatcher‐Major governments’ reforms that brought us to the current system, examines and assesses the reforms of the Blair government, and then identifies the problems that remain unresolved and how they might be addressed. Concludes with an examination of the implications of these reforms for the future of occupational pension schemes.