“Noon Sunshine-Young Scholars Seminar” is a regular academic exchange platform held by School of Finance. It aims to offer valuable occasions of communications among scholars in our college, between teachers and students, the domestic and the oversea. In this semester, we keep our original intention, set off for a new voyage. We will devote ourselves to fostering the academic atmosphere in the college, and promoting the academic level for both teachers and students.

The fourth session of “Noon Sunshine-Young Scholars Seminar” for the Spring Semester in 2025 is arranged as follows:

Lecture topic

Salience in Mutual Funds

Keynote Speaker: Dai Wenting

Date

Thursday, April 3rd, 2025

Time

12:00-13:30

Lecture Venue

Room 116, School of Finance

Abstract

This paper explores the implications of salience theory (ST) in mutual funds. We find that mutual fund investor flows are sensitive to the salience of fund returns. The flow-ST relation is stronger among funds with limited information, such as small and young funds, and funds that spend less on advertisements. In addition, we provide evidence that fund managers are aware of the flow-ST relation and adjust their portfolio choices to attract investor flows. Finally, our analysis reveals that funds characterized by higher return salience do not achieve superior performance, and salience inadvertently redirects investments away from highly-skilled managers, impeding optimal capital allocation among mutual funds.