Index RESEARCH PROBLEM RESEARCH PURPOSE RESEARCH APPROACH References RESEARCH PROBLEM Mutual funds have attracted global attention in recent years. According to ICI Global (2014), mutual fund assets under management worldwide grew by 725%, from trillions in 1993 to nearly trillions in September 2013. This attraction to mutual funds is driven by suitability, widely reported, of collective investment schemes on the market. investment needs of a large population of investors who lack the experience and sophistication to manage securities investments themselves (Rouwenhorst, 2004). plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay It has been argued that, among others, mutual funds provide diversification benefits, low-cost advantages, professional management, transparency, liquidity, and an array of products with a variety of risk-return profiles for investors. investors (Reilly & Brown, 2015). However, the performance of mutual funds has been the subject of intense intellectual debate over the years. Following the pioneering work of Treynor (1965), Sharpe (1966), and Jensen (1968), researchers have continued to shine a spotlight on the ability of mutual funds to beat the market or not and to provide excessive risk-adjusted returns. More recently, attention has shifted to whether the past performance of individual funds can be used to predict their future performance and thus provide a basis for fund selection. That is, do funds that performed well in a prior period continue to replicate that performance in future periods? This is the concept of performance persistence (Funds Management Research Centre, 2002). Some studies have shown that portfolio managers are unable to consistently outperform the market (Elton, Gruber, Brown & Goetzmann, 2014; Mohamed, Ganesh & Muroki, 2014; Tan, 2015). Furthermore, the high administration and management fees of most funds tend to wipe out any excess returns (Elton et al, 2014). Finally, a fund's returns are a function of the superior ability of the fund manager, which is difficult to predict as past performance cannot be used to predict future performance (Elton et al, 2014). Overall, literature data supports the thesis position that there is no consensus among researchers on the performance and persistence of performance of mutual funds (Elton et al, 2014). It is therefore doubtful whether professional managers have superior skills and expertise, and whether it is worth employing the services of professional managers. In this context, there seems to be much room for further research on the topic. Specifically, in Nigeria, there is a dearth of research on mutual funds. This study will therefore enrich the existing literature on mutual funds in Nigeria and help bridge the large knowledge gap on the topic. The outcome of the study will guide investors, investment advisors and fund managers in investment planning and decision making. The study will also push the frontiers of knowledge in finance, securities and investments in the Nigerian capital market. PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance and persistence of performance of mutual funds in Nigeria. The topic was chosen due to the growing interest in mutual funds as an asset class in thepromotion of the culture of saving and investment in Nigeria. I would like to explore the question of whether mutual funds provide positive risk-adjusted returns and whether the funds exhibit performance persistence. The study will adopt a positivist philosophy. This is a research paradigm that only knowledge gained through observation and measurement is reliable and reliable and that research findings are observable and quantifiable (O'Farrell & Wallace, 2012). The positivist paradigm usually assumes the existence of a dependent variable and one or more independent variable(s) (Wisdom & Creswell, 2013). Since the purpose of the study is to evaluate the performance and persistence of performance of mutual funds, a phenomenon that is assumed to exist "out there", the study can be firmly placed within the positivist framework. A quantitative research method will be used for the study. Specifically, historical data on monthly net asset values ​​(NAV) of all actively managed mutual funds in Nigeria from January 2010 to December 2018 (8 years) will be collected from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Association of Nigeria's Fund Managers. The data will be subjected to statistical analysis to test the performance and performance persistence of mutual funds in Nigeria. RESEARCH APPROACH A quantitative research approach will be adopted for the study as it closely aligns with the positivist research paradigm, the philosophical basis adopted for the study. A positivist researcher assumes that the same analytical approach applicable in science and engineering is equally applicable in the social sciences. It assumes that there is an underlying reality that the researcher can discover through observation or logical reasoning (O'Farrell & Wallace, 2012). The quantitative approach tends to be associated with quantitative measurement, the hypothesis-based approach, the collection of relatively large sample sizes and statistically testing theories. The quantitative approach also assumes that the researcher seeks to be detached from what is observed, that research success can be achieved through observation, and that the findings have objective meaning (O'Farrell & Wallace, 2012). All of these assumptions are consistent with the type of analysis required to evaluate the performance and persistent performance of mutual funds. Using the quantitative research approach for this study has some clear advantages. The first is the fact that the result of the study is "generalizable". This is possible because of the relatively large sample size usually associated with quantitative research, which ensures that the sample is representative of the population. Furthermore, provided the research has been properly designed and executed, the results are statistically reliable; Finally, the degree of reliability of the result can be assessed quite easily through the use of appropriate statistical analyzes (O'Farrell & Wallace, 2012). Please note: this is just a sample. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay The above considerations provide justification for adopting a quantitative research approach for this study. References Elton, E. J., Gruber, M. J., Brown, S. J. & Goetzmann, W. N. (2014). Modern portfolio theory and investment analysis. (9th ed.). USA: Wiley & Sons Inc. Fund Management Research Center (2002). A review of research on the past performance of managed funds. Report 22. Retrieved from https://download.asic.gov.au/media/1337666/FMRC_Report.pdfICI Global (2014).5.