A Review of the Performance Measurement of Long-Term Mutual Funds

Abstract

We review the major models of mutual fund performance: (1) using return data to evaluate equity funds—from single to multi-index models, (2) measuring passive portfolio performance, (3) using holdings-based performance measures, (4) measuring timing ability, and (5) measuring bond fund performance. We conclude with a discussion of issues affecting performance measurement: data sources and bias, missing factors, and improvements to benchmarks.