AN EVALUATION OF TURKISH MUTUAL AND PENSION FUNDS’ PERFORMANCES

AN EVALUATION OF TURKISH MUTUAL AND PENSION FUNDS’ PERFORMANCES

This study evaluates the performance of Turkish type-A equity mutual funds and growth equity pension funds for the period between 01.01.2009 and 31.12.2015, using the Sharpe, Sortino, Treynor, Jensen, and Information ratio models, followed by the TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) model, which combines the previously mentioned evaluation techniques to reach to a comprehensive ranking of the funds. In addition, the study tests the ability of fund managers to outperform the market using Jensen’s alpha and Treynor-Mazuy models. In this study, a total of 15 type-A mutual funds and 10 growth equity pension funds have been evaluated and ranked. After using the Jensen’s alpha and Treynor-Muzay models, the results, in general, indicate that the managers of these funds do not possess the ability to outperform the market neither by stock selection nor by market timing. For market timing, only one pension fund has a statistically significant measure implying that its management possesses the ability to time their investments according to their expectations of the future movements of the market. On the other hand, only one mutual fund shows to have outperformed the market by stock selectivity while statistically significant at the 1% level. The study also ranked the mutual and pension funds using the Sharpe, Sortino, Treynor, Information ratio and Jensen models, followed by the TOPSIS model. On the average, pension funds seem to outperform mutual funds when Treynor, Information, and Jensen models are considered. While, when Sharpe and Sortino models are considered, mutual funds seem to outperform pension funds. In addition, it seems that mutual funds outperform pension funds when all measures are combined using the TOPSIS model. 

___

  • Acikgöz, E., Uyguntürk, H., & Korkmaz, T. (2015). Analysis of factors affecting growth of pension mutual funds in Turkey. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, vol. 5, no. 2, p. 427-433.
  • Akpınar, O. (2014). Performance evaluation of pension funds and mutual funds in Turkey and the timing ability of fund managers. British Journal of Economics, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 73-100.
  • Alptekin, N. (2009). Performance evaluations of Turkish type-A mutual funds and pension stock funds by using TOPSIS method. International Journal of Economics and Finance, vol. 1, no. 2, p. 11-22.
  • Bireysel Emeklilik Sistemi Verileri (2014). Retrieved on December 09, 2016 from http://www.egm.org.tr/
  • Blake, C. R., E. J. Elton, and M. J. Gruber (1993). The performance of bond mutual funds. The Journal of Business, vol. 66, no. 3, p. 370–403.
  • Capital Markets Board of Turkey. Monthly Statistical Bulletin. Retrieved on December 15, 2016 from http://www.spk.gov.tr/
  • Detzler, M. L. (1999). The performance of global bond mutual funds. Journal of Banking & Finance, vol. 23, no. 8, p. 1195–1217.
  • Elton E.J., Gruber M.J., Das S. and Hlavka M. (1993). Efficiency with costly information: A reinterpretation of evidence from manager portfolios. Review of Financial Studies, vol. 6, p. 1-23.
  • Fama E.F. and French K.R. (2010). Luck versus skill in the cross-section of mutual fund returns. Journal of Finance, vol. 65, p. 1915-1947.
  • Gökçen, U., & Yalçın, A. (2014). The case against active pension funds: Evidence from the Turkish private pension system. Retrieved on December 08, 2015 from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2372059
  • Gürsoy, T. C., and Y. Erzurumlu (2001). Evaluation of portfolio performance of Turkish investment funds. Doğuş Üniversitesi Dergisi, vol. 4, no. 8, p. 43–58.
  • Henriksson, R. D., and R. C. Merton (1981). On market timing and investment performance. II. Statistical Procedures for Evaluating Forecasting Skills. The Journal of Business, vol. 54, no. 4, p. 513–33.
  • Individual Pension System Progress Report. Retrieved from http://www.egm.org.tr/bes2014gr/bes2014gr_en.pdf
  • Hui. C.C., Jiuan, L. J., Horng, L. J., & Chen, C. M. (2010). Domestic open-end equity mutual fund performance evaluation using extended TOPSIS method with different distance approaches. Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 37, no. 6, p. 4642–4649.
  • Hwang, C. L. and Yoon, K. S. (1981). Multiple Attribute Decision Making: Methods and Applications. Springer-Verlag, New York.
  • Jensen, M.C. (1968). The performance of mutual funds in the period 1945-1964. The Journal of Finance, vol. 23, no. 2, p. 389-416.
  • Jiuan, L. J., Chen, C.M., & Hui, C. C. (2007). A comparison of usual indices and extended TOPSIS methods in mutual funds’ performance evaluation. Journal of Statistics and Management, vol. 10, no. 6, p. 869-883.
  • Kurtaran, A., Karakaya, A., & Dağlı, H. (2013). Improvement of private pension system in Turkey and measurement of its with DEA. International Journal of Economics and Finance, vol. 5, no. 11, p. 163-173.
  • Malkiel G. (1995). Returns from Investing in Mutual Funds: 1971 to 1991. Journal of Finance, vol. 50, p. 549-572.
  • McDonald, J. G. (1973). French mutual fund performance: Evaluation of internationally diversified portfolios. Journal of Finance, vol. 28, no. 5, p. 1161–80.
  • OECD Pension Funds in Figures. (2015). Retrieved on December 12, 2016 from http://www.oecd.org/finance/Pension-funds-pre-data2015.pdf
  • Sharpe, W. (1966). Mutual fund performance. The Journal of Business, vol. 39, no. 1, p. 119-138.
  • Treynor, J. L. (1965). How to rate management of investment funds. Harvard Business Review, vol. 43, no. 1, p. 63-75.
  • Treynor, J. L., & Mazuy, K.K. (1966). Can mutual funds outguess the market? Harvard Business Review, vol. 44, p. 131-136.
  • Türegün, N., & Kaya, C. T. (2014). Performance evaluation of Turkish pension mutual funds. International Journal of Economics, Finance and Management, vol. 3, no. 1, p. 22-27.