The influence of academic interactions on stock selection and performance: Evidence from Japan

Using mutual fund holdings data and fund manager demographic data, this paper examines whether academic interactions between fund managers and board members affect fund manager investment decisions and fund performance. I show that mutual fund managers are more likely to hold academically related stocks. Performance tests provide empirical evidence that academic interactions are beneficial to earn more profits. In addition, I show that mutual fund managers seem to lose profitable opportunities due to academic interactions because of their investment styles. Overall, this paper shows that mutual fund managers seem to take advantage of academic interactions to earn greater profits.