Are the Highest Mutual Fund Fees Justified by Their Performance?
Are the Highest Mutual Fund Fees Justified by Their Performance?

Summary/Abstract: A mutual fund fee – being the price of a product – is related to the features of the product, like fund results, which are the base in the inves’s purchase decision making process. In the present study, we examine whether there is a relation between good performance of the fund in the past (1- and 5-year-time horizons) and the current fee. The research for the Polish open-ended mutual funds market in 2017 indicates that there is no clear linear or non-linear relation between past performance and current charges. The computations were conducted using fitting curves packages in the R programming language and a correlation analysis. In the second part of the article, the strategies of investing in the cheapest and the most expensive funds were compared, with a split into fund types (stock, mixed and bond funds). The overall conclusion is that performance is not a driver for imposing higher fees on the investors. If it is not, then either fee distribution among the funds is random or other non-fundamental factors matters.

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