The role of active management and asset allocation policy on government and corporate bond fund returns

The role of asset allocation policy and active management on equity mutual fund returns has been a popular research topic, while there is almost no literature on the subject covering bond funds. We check sources of performance for Israeli corporate and government bond funds, which together account for above 70% of the Israeli mutual fund market, using a unique monthly database of approximately 10-years. Our results reveal that active management is far more important than policy for corporate bond fund returns, which is mainly attributable to managers’ security selection skills. The reverse is true for government bond funds and strategic long term policies account for a larger part of excess market return variability. Furthermore, if we take into account management fees, government bond funds lose from active management. The greater heterogeneity of investments open to corporate bond funds is a possible explanation for the difference in results.