Jessica Wachter - Faculty Research in Knowledge@Wharton

U, V or W: What Kind of Recovery Can We Expect, and When?

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:52:49 EST

Delegates to the just-ended World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, found plenty of positive economic signs -- but not enough to keep them from wringing their hands. The consensus at the five-day gathering called for strong growth in emerging markets like China, India and Brazil, and poor growth in Japan and much of Europe, with the United States somewhere in between. The Forum's official statement called the global recovery "fragile."

Can Fund Managers Pick Good Stocks? Yes, They Can, But...

Wed, 23 Feb 2005 16:12:25 EST

Millions of people around the world invest in actively managed mutual funds, believing that fund managers can find enough hot stocks to supercharge results. Is that true? Yes and no. A research study by Wharton finance professor Jessica Wachter and her colleagues shows that under certain conditions, fund managers can pick good stocks that offer high returns. The increase in returns, however, is not all that big.

A Fresh Look At Mutual Funds� Performance Data

Wed, 28 Mar 2001 00:00:00 EST

For mutual fund analysts, new insights into evaluating a fund�s performance don�t come along every day. Lately, though, financial experts at Wharton and other schools have collaborated on research that challenges some long-held notions about which funds are best for investors. Included in that research is a paper by Lubos Pastor of the University of Chicago and Wharton�s Robert Stambaugh on how to improve standard benchmarks used to predict fund performance.

The 6% Factor: Which Fund Managers Will Outperform Index Funds?

Tue, 21 Mar 2000 17:04:10 EST

Financial advisors and analysts often point out that index funds, which invest in Standard & Poor�s list of 500 large corporations, do better than funds that are actively directed by professional managers. In fact, just 6% of those professionally managed funds have, over the past five years, outperformed funds that are pegged to the S&P 500. But there is the matter of that sage 6%. If there were a way to figure out which managers are likely to beat the market in the future, the investor stands a chance of maximizing returns. A Wharton research paper helps in the search.