For every 10-percentage-point increase in the percentage of firms’ outside board members who are women there is a 1.67-percentage-point rise in the dividend payout ratio.
Here comes the tax drag. Thanks to a 2010 rule change, many mutual funds this year and next will lose their ability to continue to offset taxes with accrued capital losses from the financial crisis, hitting after-tax returns.
This year’s market events surrounding Brexit and the U.S. election, in particular, have exposed numerous flaws to this recency approach taken by the investing herd.