Resumen de Characteristic factors and fund evaluation in Korea.

Chulwoo Han, Inhyung Lee, Chae Woo Nam

• Factors that govern common variations in equity returns in Korea are identified and the authors examine whether they are priced. Size and the ratio of book value to price turn out to be the determinants of common variations, and these variations appear to be priced. The momentum factor shows mixed results depending on the samples, while macroeconomic factors consistently fail to group stocks in any meaningful manner. These factors are utilized to assess the performance of the retail equity funds. Characteristic-based performance analysis reveals that high risk-adjusted excess returns are accompanied by high selection and timing abilities of fund managers. Risk-adjusted returns are more persistent than unadjusted returns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]