This paper presents an empirical examination of the selectivity and market timing performance of a sample of U.S. equity pension fund managers. Regardless of the choice of benchmark portfolio or estimation model, the average selectivity measure is postive and the average timing measure is negative. However, both selectivity and timing appear to be somewhat sensitive to the choice of a benchmark when managers are classified by investment style. Meta-analysis revealed some real variation around the mean values for each measure. The 80 percent probability intervals for selectivity revealed that the best managers produced substantial risk-adjusted excess returns. The authors also found a negative correlation between selectivity and timing, but they argue that the observed negative correlation in their data is largely an artifact of negatively correlated sampling errors for the two estimates.

In this paper, the authors find significantly higher preholiday returns in futures contracts compared to nonholiday returns. The findings are consistent with the inventory adjustment hypothesis, since higher preholiday returns associated with lower trading volume are most pronounced for exchange-closed holidays. There is evidence of positive postholiday returns associated with higher trading volume for exchange-open holidays. This is consistent with positive holiday sentiments. The holiday effect is uniquely independent: the magnitude of excess holiday returns is the largest among all seasonal variations.

In this paper, we find significantly higher preholiday returns in futures contracts compared to nonholiday returns. The findings are consistent with the inventory adjustment hypothesis, since higher preholiday returns associated with lower trading volume are most pronounced for exchange‐closed holidays. There is evidence of positive postholiday returns associated with higher trading volume for exchange‐open holidays. This is consistent with positive holiday sentiments. The holiday effect is uniquely independent: The magnitude of excess holiday returns is the largest among all seasonal variations.