An Empirical Analysis of the Performance of Unit Trusts in Singapore

The Singapore government’s recent strategic plan to develop the financial sector hasplaced much emphasis on the fund management industry. In this paper we examine theunit trust performance in Singapore in the 90s. Our results show that fund managers ingeneral performed poorly in security analysis an...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Koh, Francis, Koh, Seng Kee, Benedict, Cheng, T. C.
Format: text
Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 1987
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/2590
https://worldcat.org/oclc/2685691
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Institution: Singapore Management University
Language: English
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Summary:The Singapore government’s recent strategic plan to develop the financial sector hasplaced much emphasis on the fund management industry. In this paper we examine theunit trust performance in Singapore in the 90s. Our results show that fund managers ingeneral performed poorly in security analysis and market timing. However, theyperformed fairly well in risk-adjusted returns and generally maintained well-diversifiedportfolios. We find that there is little consistency in the performance ranking of theevaluated portfolios, although there is evidence of repeat performance of some top funds.Our analysis also shows that fund managers could indeed make excess returns above therisk-free rate in the medium- to long-term. Thus, unit trusts can be an ideal investmentfor small investors seeking sufficient diversification.