Wafa Ghardallou

The study examines if specific characteristics of funds influence the performance of Saudi equity mutual funds. Previous research has explored various aspects of mutual funds. However, the Saudi Arabia literature focuses on evaluating the funds’ performance. Hence, this study seeks to close this gap by providing a framework to explain the equity fund performance. Several risks adjusted performance measures are applied such as Jensen’s alpha, lower partial moment alpha, Sharpe ratio, LPM-Sharpe ratio using the dynamic panel specification over the period 2010–2019. Based on the LPM alpha, the risk-adjusted return analysis reveals that the Saudi equity funds outperformed their benchmark over the full sample period. The empirical results show that major fund-specific characteristics such as fund size, past performance, and flow explain future performance. Besides, the evidence confirms that Saudi funds benefit from the economies of scale and expertise, while funds requiring higher levels of initial investment tend to exhibit lower performance levels. These findings provide investors and fund managers with useful information to make the optimal investment decisions in the mutual fund industry.

The impact of social media usage on corporate performance has not been examined in the Saudi context. This paper aims to investigate the influence of social media, namely companies’ and CEOs’ involvement in Twitter and LinkedIn, on the profitability of Saudi Arabia listed firms. A dynamic panel estimation method is used to empirically assess this relationship. The study employs 120 firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange Tadawul from 2014 to 2017. Data are obtained from the companies’ annual reports. Statements of financial status as well as income statements are used to collect data on the dependent variable and control variables. The results show that having a LinkedIn official account by both the CEO and the company does not improve the enterprise performance. In contrast, companies that are active on Twitter will contribute to an increase in their short-term performance. CEOs who engage in Twitter via a high number of followers help to boost the performance of their companies in the long and short term. Hence, this paper recommends that Saudi firms should be aware that their performance could be increased by monitoring their presence on social networks and by having a strong intention to use these tools.

Acknowledgments
This study was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through the Fast-track Research Funding Program.