Covid-19 and asset management in EU: a preliminary assessment of performance and investment styles

Abstract

The likelihood of pandemics has been perceived very low till very recently. Therefore, the exponential spread of Covid-19 was a major surprise that has resulted in a global rout of financial markets. In this study, we document some preliminary evidence of performance and investment styles of European funds during the evolution of Covid-19. We assess the period between January and May 2020 and categorized the spread of contagion in three phases. The results document that Social Entrepreneurship funds demonstrated positive returns across the three phases, while most of the other subcategories plunged into negative zone. Our findings on style analysis suggest that fund managers have been drifting from high risk option to low risk in terms of size and investment strategy. Similarly, there has been a switch from high risk to relatively less sensitive sectors and a transition of investment from countries with higher to those with lower number of cases.