Returns and persistence of investment fund performance in the Czech Republic

Abstract

The article aims at verifying the occurrence of performance persistence phenomenon among equity funds in the Czech Republic. The study uses the most popular measures of return mentioned in financial academic publications. Moreover, a relatively long time horizon, lasting from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2010 was taken into consideration. The non-parametric methods utilized in the study were traditional contingency tables combined with a new approach discussed in the literature on the subject and related to the estimation of stochastic kernel. The obtained results have revealed the existence of weak and limited performance persistence within the total time horizon and in several sub-periods. The significance of the phenomenon depended on the applied measure of return. Furthermore, performance dependence in successive periods was related to the market situation. In general, the character of the occurrence of performance persistence may be connected with the size and the level of development of the Czech investment fund industry.