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In this paper we analyse the role of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in the price discovery process of stocks listed at the Botswana Stock Exchange.Using daily returns data covering the period 3 January 2013 to 31 December 2015 for Beta Betta ETF and Domestic Company Indices, we utilize a VECM model to find out whether the Betta Beta ETF is playing a significant role in the price discovery process of stocks listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange. We found the error correction term to be statistically significant thereby confirming that the Beta Betta ETF is playing a significant role in the price discovery of stocks listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange.

Mid-cap funds invest in stocks with a market cap between $2 billion and $10 billion. Some of the mid-cap firms recently overcame their small-cap status, but are still in the high growth mode with a better market positioning and stronger balance sheet. Because of their size and status, mid-cap stocks offer a unique platform to portfolio managers of mid-cap funds to earn superior returns by using their selectivity skills. This study analyzes the performance and persistence of performance of 257 U.S. domiciled retail mid-cap funds from January 2000 to December 2017. The results of this study suggest that despite the interesting platform offered by these stocks, it is not easy for fund managers to pick the stocks that beat the market. The results of this study show that mid-cap funds do not outperform the market and their poor performance persists over time.

This study sought to evaluate the relationship between equity unit trust fund flows measured as purchases and sales and the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) stock market return. The study employed Vector Autoregressive model and tested for Granger causality using monthly data for the period starting January 2010 to December 2017. The granger causality results showed that equity fund sales contain information that can explain stock market return and stock market return contain information that can explain equity fund purchases thus unidirectional causality. Impulse response results showed that equity fund purchases have a predominantly positive relationship with NSE stock market return and NSE stock market return have a positive relationship with equity fund purchases. This implies that an increase in stock market return will lead equity fund managers to purchase more securities and as the equity fund purchases increase, the demand for those stocks will increase causing the stock prices to increase and consequently increase stock market return. In contrast, equity fund sales are predominantly negatively related with stock market return and stock market return is also negatively related to equity funds sales. As the stock market return increase, the equity fund managers will decrease their sales. As the sales increase, the supply for those stocks will increase causing a decrease in prices and consequently a decrease in stock market return. Equity fund sales explain the variation in stock market return more than equity fund purchases while stock market return is a determinant of equity fund purchases and equity fund sales.

Using intraday trading data during the 2008 financial crisis, from the Standard and Poor’s Depository Receipt (SPDR) market, we test for evidence of the informational advantage of traders. In addition, we examine the effect of pricing error on trade price. If traders are rational, and have accurate information, they will only purchase an asset at a premium (discount) if they have reason to believe that the fundamental value of that asset will increase (decrease). Our results show that the trading price of the SPDR does not significantly predict the movement of underlying asset values. This finding is consistent with traders overreacting to disparities between price and underlying value during the financial crisis.