Predictability of Korean Mutual Fund Performance

Abstract

In this article, we examine the persistence in the performance of South Korean equity mutual funds between 1990 and 2023. South Korea has the second largest number of mutual funds registered globally after the US; it has more funds domiciled than the UK or Japan. The country is the world's 12th-biggest economy, in the following five years; it is set to make the 10th-biggest contribution to global growth, more than France or Italy and approximately the same as the UK. Using a daily return sample, we show a strong existence of performance persistence in the South Korean mutual fund market during the 33-year sample period included in our study. We find this result using a non-parametric methodology based on contingency tables checked by statistical tests, which show statistical significance at 1%.