Purchase and redemption patterns of US equity mutual funds

I decompose net flows into purchase and redemption rates for a sample of equity funds. I find a strong relation between purchase rates and redemption rates indicating a significant clientele of rapid fund traders. I also find that investors punish poor performance with higher redemptions. Over my sample period, index funds display lower redemption rates than do actively managed funds. I find that load fund investors base fund-trading decisions on previous performance to a greater extent than do no-load fund investors. This result suggests that investment advisors and brokers play a significant role in increased mutual fund trading activity.