Socially responsible stocks: a boon for investors in India

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanita Tripathi ◽  
Varun Bhandari
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Information Ratio ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Investment Funds ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Crisis Period ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Small Investors ◽  
Indian Stock Market

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the performance of socially responsible stocks portfolio vis-à-vis portfolios of general companies in the Indian stock market. Design/methodology/approach – The study has used absolute rate of return as well as various risk adjusted measures like Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, Jensen’s α, Information ratio, Fama’s decomposition measure and dummy regression model to evaluate the performance of various portfolios. Findings – Socially responsible stocks portfolios are found to have lower relative risk despite having higher systematic risk. Further the authors find that during crisis and post-crisis period, socially responsible stocks portfolio generated significantly higher return as compared to other portfolios in the Indian stock market. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) Index and GREENEX Index provided positive net selectivity returns in all the three sub periods, especially during crisis period. GREENEX and ESG outperformed NIFTY and SENSEX even on net selectivity basis. This indicates that the compromise made with respect to diversification by investing in socially responsible stocks portfolios was well rewarded in terms of higher returns in Indian context. Practical implications – The findings lend support to the case of socially responsible investing (SRI) in India and are relevant for companies, regulators, policy makers and investors at large. Mutual funds and other investment funds should launch schemes which invest in socially responsible stocks so as to provide the benefits of SRI even to small investors in India. Originality/value – The study contributes to the related literature by analysing the performance of socially responsible stocks portfolios in Indian stock market which is one of the emerging markets.

Performance of Socially Responsible Portfolios Across Sectors in Indian Stock Market

Think India ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 01-09
Author(s):  
Vanita Tripathi ◽  
Varun Bhandari
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Stock Returns ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Sharpe Ratio ◽  
Market Model ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Indian Stock Market ◽  
Three Factor

The question of whether socially responsible stocks outperform or under-perform general stocks has been of keen interest for various researchers and academicians. This paper seeks to empirically examine the performance of socially responsible portfolios across various sectors and index of socially responsible and general companies in Indian stock market. We have taken up S&P ESG and CNX NIFTY as the indices of socially responsible and general companies respectively. ESG index has been classified into six different sectors on the basis of GICS. Performance has been evaluated in terms of risk, return and various risk-adjusted measures like Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, Double Sharpe ratio, Modified Sharpe ratio, M2 measure, Jensens alpha, Famas decomposition measure, etc. We have also checked whether market model is sufficient to explain cross sectional variation in stock returns or we need Fama-French three factor model. The study period ranges from January 1996 – December 2013 and it is further divided into different sub-periods. We find that socially responsible stocks across IT, FMCG and financial sectors are well rewarding in Indian stock market by generating significantly higher returns and outperforming the two indices on the basis of risk-adjusted measures employed during 18 year period and different sub-periods. The results uphold even with the use of market model and Fama-French three factor model by generating highest significant excess returns. There is no empirical evidence on the performance evaluation of socially responsible portfolios across different sectors. Hence this study is first of its kind. This will help investors in selecting best sector for investment in socially responsible companies. Significant higher returns of ESG index and socially responsible stocks across different sectors make Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) a better investment vehicle for investors in India. This is the time when general companies should change their approach and agenda towards CSR and start considering ESG issues as their investment themes. The regulators, policy makers and mutual funds should come up with different socially responsible products and sectoral indices to initiate the movement of SRI across different sectors in India.

Socially responsible investing: performance evaluation of BRICS nations

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 525-547
Author(s):  
Vanita Tripathi ◽  
Amanpreet Kaur
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Socially Responsible Investing ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Crisis Period ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Brics Countries ◽  
Regulatory Bodies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Asset Managers

PurposeThe study aims to contribute towards the sustainable development of financial systems, by testing the performance of socially responsible investing alternatives in emerging BRICS countries. The study outcomes give us an insight into viability of responsible financial decisions in contrast with the conventional style of investing.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examine the performance of socially responsible indices of BRICS nations vis-à-vis respective conventional market indices using various risk-adjusted measures and conditional volatility measures. We further segregate the 12-year study period to crisis and non-crisis period particular to the respective country, as well as a common global financial crisis period to analyze the impact of market conditions in BRICS nations and observe the performance using dummy regression analysis. Conditional volatility of the stochastic index series is measured using ARCH-GARCH analysis. Fama Decomposition Model helps rank the index performance through the sub-periods.FindingsFama Decomposition Model helps us observe that while Brazil secures a position in top rankers consistently, it is India that ranks top during crisis period. With evidence of outperformance in terms of risk-return by SRI indices of BRICS countries through the overall period as well as through different market conditions, our study contributes to the positive literature on socially responsible investing.Research limitations/implicationsThe study explores performance of SRI in BRICS and finds evidence of the sustainable investment to be non-penalizing to the investor, even as the performance trend remain distinct in the countries with same level of development. It has implications for the investors and asset managers to include responsible stocks, while for the companies and regulatory bodies to unite for better reporting and disclosures. Given the broad implications, future research is required to link the impact of various cultural, legislative and demographic factors on the level and performance of the socially responsible investment in BRICS nations.Practical implicationsThe current study evaluating and comparing performances of the socially responsible investments in BRICS nations puts forth following implications for the different sectors of the society, especially in emerging countries: (1) BRICS organization – The association of five economic giants, having significant influence over global as well as regional affairs, can aim to orient the countries' efforts towards collective sustainable development by designing uniform SRI framework. (2) Investors – In the globalization era, the investor can gain from ethical cross border investments to diversification and country benefits. (3) Companies and regulatory bodies – Only voluntary or mandatory unified efforts, to provide accurate and consistent disclosures, can upscale the mediocre growth trends of sustainable investing in emerging economies. (4) Asset Managers – Call of greater role in educating, warding off inhibitions related to RI.Originality/valueThis is to certify that the research paper submitted by us is an outcome of our independent and original work. We have duly acknowledged all the sources from which the ideas and extracts have been taken. The project is free from any plagiarism and has not been submitted elsewhere for publication.

Performance of Socially Responsible Portfolios Across Sectors in Indian Stock Market

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanita Tripathi ◽  
Varun Bhandari
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Stock Returns ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Sharpe Ratio ◽  
Market Model ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Indian Stock Market ◽  
Three Factor

The question of whether socially responsible stocks outperform or under-perform general stocks has been of keen interest for various researchers and academicians. This paper seeks to empirically examine the performance of socially responsible portfolios across various sectors and index of socially responsible and general companies in Indian stock market. We have taken up S&P ESG and CNX NIFTY as the indices of socially responsible and general companies respectively. ESG index has been classified into six different sectors on the basis of GICS. Performance has been evaluated in terms of risk, return and various risk-adjusted measures like Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio, Double Sharpe ratio, Modified Sharpe ratio, M2 measure, Jensens alpha, Famas decomposition measure, etc. We have also checked whether market model is sufficient to explain cross sectional variation in stock returns or we need Fama-French three factor model. The study period ranges from January 1996 December 2013 and it is further divided into different sub-periods. We find that socially responsible stocks across IT, FMCG and financial sectors are well rewarding in Indian stock market by generating significantly higher returns and outperforming the two indices on the basis of risk-adjusted measures employed during 18 year period and different sub-periods. The results uphold even with the use of market model and Fama-French three factor model by generating highest significant excess returns. There is no empirical evidence on the performance evaluation of socially responsible portfolios across different sectors. Hence this study is first of its kind. This will help investors in selecting best sector for investment in socially responsible companies. Significant higher returns of ESG index and socially responsible stocks across different sectors make Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) a better investment vehicle for investors in India. This is the time when general companies should change their approach and agenda towards CSR and start considering ESG issues as their investment themes. The regulators, policy makers and mutual funds should come up with different socially responsible products and sectoral indices to initiate the movement of SRI across different sectors in India.

Dynamic prediction of Indian stock market: an artificial neural network approach

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Himanshu Goel ◽  
Narinder Pal Singh
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Artificial Neural Network ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
Institutional Investors ◽  
Time Series Data ◽  
Gradient Algorithm ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Artificial Neural ◽  
Indian Stock Market

Purpose Artificial neural network (ANN) is a powerful technique to forecast the time series data such as the stock market. Therefore, this study aims to predict the Indian stock market closing price using ANNs. Design/methodology/approach The input variables identified from the literature are some macroeconomic variables and a global stock market factor. The study uses an ANN with Scaled Conjugate Gradient Algorithm (SCG) to forecast the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex. Findings The empirical findings reveal that the ANN model is able to achieve 93% accuracy in predicting the BSE Sensex closing prices. Moreover, the results indicate that the Morgan Stanley Capital International world index is the most important variable and the index of industrial production is the least important in predicting Sensex. Research limitations/implications The findings of the study have implications for the investors of all categories such as foreign institutional investors, domestic institutional investors and investment houses. Originality/value The novelty of this study lies in the fact that there are hardly any studies that use ANN to forecast the Indian stock market using macroeconomic indicators.

Artificial intelligence in financial services: a qualitative research to discover robo-advisory services

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ankita Bhatia ◽  
Arti Chandani ◽  
Rizwana Atiq ◽  
Mita Mehta ◽  
Rajiv Divekar
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Individual Investors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Advisory Services ◽  
Wealth Management ◽  
Management Scenario ◽  
Indian Stock Market

Purpose The purpose of this study is to gauge the awareness and perception of Indian individual investors about a new fintech innovation known as robo-advisors in the wealth management scenario. Robo-advisors are comprehensive automated online advisory platforms that help investors in managing wealth by recommending portfolio allocations, which are based on certain algorithms. Design/methodology/approach This is a phenomenological qualitative study that used five focussed group discussions to gather the stipulated information. Purposive sampling was used and the sample comprised investors who actively invest in the Indian stock market. A semi-structured questionnaire and homogeneous discussions were used for this study. Discussion time for all the groups was 203 min. One of the authors moderated the discussions and translated the audio recordings verbatim. Subsequently, content analysis was carried out by using the NVIVO 12 software (QSR International) to derive different themes. Findings Factors such as cost-effectiveness, trust, data security, behavioural biases and sentiments of the investors were observed as crucial points which significantly impacted the perception of the investors. Furthermore, several suggestions on different ways to enhance the awareness levels of investors were brought up by the participants during the discussions. It was observed that some investors perceive robo-advisors as only an alternative for fund/wealth managers/brokers for quantitative analysis. Also, they strongly believe that human intervention is necessary to gauge the emotions of the investors. Hence, at present, robo-advisors for the Indian stock market, act only as a supplementary service rather than a substitute for financial advisors. Research limitations/implications Due to the explorative nature of the study and limited participants, the findings of the study cannot be generalised to the overall population. Future research is imperative to study the dynamic nature of artificial intelligence (AI) theories and investigate whether they are able to capture the sentiments of individual investors and human sentiments impacting the market. Practical implications This study gives an insight into the awareness, perception and opinion of the investors about robo-advisory services. From a managerial perspective, the findings suggest that additional attention needs to be devoted to the adoption and inculcation of AI and machine learning theories while building algorithms or logic to come up with effective models. Many investors expressed discontent with the current design of risk profiles of the investors. This helps to provide feedback for developers and designers of robo-advisors to include advanced and detailed programming to be able to do risk profiling in a more comprehensive and precise manner. Social implications In the future, robo-advisors will change the wealth management scenario. It is well-established that data is the new oil for all businesses in the present times. Technologies such as robo-advisor, need to evolve further in terms of predicting unstructured data, improvising qualitative analysis techniques to include the ability to gauge emotions of investors and markets in real-time. Additionally, the behavioural biases of both the programmers and the investors need to be taken care of simultaneously while designing these automated decision support systems. Originality/value This study fulfils an identified gap in the literature regarding the investors’ perception of new fintech innovation, that is, robo-advisors. It also clarifies the confusion about the awareness level of robo-advisors amongst Indian individual investors by examining their attitudes and by suggesting innovations for future research. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the awareness, perception and attitudes of individual investors towards robo-advisors.

Do Indian stock market sentiments impact contemporaneous returns?

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 332-346
Author(s):  
Divya Aggarwal ◽  
Pitabas Mohanty
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Stock Returns ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Stock Index ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Investor Sentiments ◽  
Indian Stock Market ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of Indian investor sentiments on contemporaneous stock returns of Bombay Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange and various sectoral indices in India by developing a sentiment index. Design/methodology/approach The study uses principal component analysis to develop a sentiment index as a proxy for Indian stock market sentiments over a time frame from April 1996 to January 2017. It uses an exploratory approach to identify relevant proxies in building a sentiment index using indirect market measures and macro variables of Indian and US markets. Findings The study finds that there is a significant positive correlation between the sentiment index and stock index returns. Sectors which are more dependent on institutional fund flows show a significant impact of the change in sentiments on their respective sectoral indices. Research limitations/implications The study has used data at a monthly frequency. Analysing higher frequency data can explain short-term temporal dynamics between sentiments and returns better. Further studies can be done to explore whether sentiments can be used to predict stock returns. Practical implications The results imply that one can develop profitable trading strategies by investing in sectors like metals and capital goods, which are more susceptible to generate positive returns when the sentiment index is high. Originality/value The study supplements the existing literature on the impact of investor sentiments on contemporaneous stock returns in the context of a developing market. It identifies relevant proxies of investor sentiments for the Indian stock market.

Sustainable and responsible investment funds in Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jitka Sládková ◽  
Daniela Kolomazníková ◽  
Sylvie Formánková ◽  
Oldřich Trenz ◽  
Jan Kolomazník ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Score Distribution ◽  
Investment Funds ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Responsible Investment ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sustainable Investment ◽  
Key Barrier ◽  
Sustainable And Responsible Investment ◽  
Rating Distribution

Purpose The sustainable and responsible investing (SRI) is the part of sustainable investment which focusses on mutual funds. The purpose of this paper is to map and evaluate all the active European SRI funds, their performances and correlation with the national identity. Design/methodology/approach The sample of the research was analysed with descriptive statistics, mainly the frequency, the mean and the correlation analysis. A well-known volatility is represented by the synthetic risk and reward indicator (SRRI). Other two ratings are the environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds score distribution and the ESG funds letter rating distribution. Findings SRI investment may seem to be performing better than in the funds with a different focus. The segment of SRI funds will grow for the next decade. Research limitations/implications There is a lack of definitions and clear metrics for sustainable investing. For better performance, it would be also appropriate to examine each country separately. Practical implications This paper is part of the project targeting to design a model and methodology of SI evaluation taking into account ESG factors and risks, including profitability in a selected sector. This model can be used by investors for better decision-making. Social implications The paper focusses on the funds selecting investments that fulfil ESG criteria, which are part of the social responsibility and sustainability. Originality/value An analysis of the current approaches to evaluating investments shows that the key barrier in the transitions to sustainable investment is not taking into account the ESG factors. The research in this paper includes the ESG factors in the evaluation.

Stock market predictability

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 354-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvio John Camilleri ◽  
Christopher J. Green
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Serial Correlation ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
High Frequency Data ◽  
Frequency Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lag Effects ◽  
Daily Data ◽  
Indian Stock Market

Purpose – The main objective of this study is to obtain new empirical evidence on non-synchronous trading effects through modelling the predictability of market indices. Design/methodology/approach – The authors test for lead-lag effects between the Indian Nifty and Nifty Junior indices using Pesaran–Timmermann tests and Granger-Causality. Then, a simple test on overnight returns is proposed to infer whether the observed predictability is mainly attributable to non-synchronous trading or some form of inefficiency. Findings – The evidence suggests that non-synchronous trading is a better explanation for the observed predictability in the Indian Stock Market. Research limitations/implications – The indication that non-synchronous trading effects become more pronounced in high-frequency data suggests that prior studies using daily data may underestimate the impacts of non-synchronicity. Originality/value – The originality of the paper rests on various important contributions: overnight returns is looked at to infer whether predictability is more attributable to non-synchronous trading or to some form of inefficiency; the impacts of non-synchronicity are investigated in terms of lead-lag effects rather than serial correlation; and high-frequency data is used which gauges the impacts of non-synchronicity during less active parts of the trading day.

The effect of business cycle, market return and momentum on financial performance of socially responsible investing mutual funds

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 513-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Paul
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycle ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Mutual Funds ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Socially Responsible ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Market Return ◽  
Three Factor

Purpose This study examines the effect of business cycle, market return and momentum on the financial performance of socially responsible investing (SRI) mutual funds using data from two complete business cycles as defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Design/methodology/approach A “fund of funds” approach is used to identify the extent to which SRI financial performance is affected by the macroeconomic climate. The Fama-French Three-Factor model and the Carhart four-factor model are used to bring the results into alignment with commonly used finance methodologies. Findings The results indicate that SRI tends to preserve value during economic contraction more than it adds value during economic expansion. Market return is important during both expansion and contraction, while momentum is important only during expansion. Research limitations/implications These findings suggest that double screening, for both financial and social performance, enables portfolio managers of SRI funds to have insight into those companies that are particularly vulnerable during times of economic contraction. Practical implications These results bring added clarity to the mixed findings found by previous researchers examining the relationship between corporate social performance (CSP) and financial performance. Social implications This study reinforces the idea that the financial performance of companies with high ethical standards is comparable to the financial performance of the market as a whole during times of economic expansion and superior to the market as a whole during times of economic contraction. Originality/value Business cycle analysis, along with the Fama-French Three-Factor model and the Carhart four-factor model, brings SRI research more into the realm of conventional financial analysis than previous studies.

Diffusion of crisis signals across the world: evidence from subprime crisis of 2008-2009

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 410-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sruthi Rajan ◽  
Shijin Santhakumar
Keyword(s):  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Stock Index ◽  
Subprime Crisis ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Crisis Period ◽  
Economic Fundamentals ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The innovations in fundamentals coupled with noise traders induce co-movement in diverse markets. This co-movement in equity markets which is evidenced higher during the turmoil period influences economic fundamentals of a country dissimilar in nature. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether economic fundamentals or investors’ behavior attributable to disturbances across the world are the rationale behind the crisis transmission, and thereby distinguish fundamental-based contagion from investor-induced contagion. Design/methodology/approach Initially, the study investigates the role of macroeconomic fundamentals and stock returns on crisis occurrence using panel probit estimates. Additionally, ordinary least squares estimates controlling the influence of fundamentals on domestic return capture the discrete country effect measuring the influence of domestic as well as foreign economic fundamentals along with foreign returns on the domestic stock index. Findings The empirical results reveal that foreign country stock index returns are having a significant influence on domestic returns besides a prominent role in crisis occurrence. The binary probit model confirmed the influence of both macroeconomic factors and foreign returns in crisis occurrence. The OLS estimates found evidence for investor-induced contagion in the crisis period where the effects of economic fundamentals are small in comparison to foreign market returns that are mainly dominant in pre- and post-crisis period. Research limitations/implications The propagation of crisis from one market to other would enable the policy makers to make clear regulations at right time to control for the crisis in future. The results can help the policy makers as well as investors in reducing the impact of the crisis in future by clearly monitoring the behavior of the factors under study. Originality/value The current study addresses the role of macro fundamentals and investors influence in crisis propagation. Adopting subprime crisis of 2008-2009 as a reference point and separating the sample period into pre-crisis, crisis and post-crisis period, the study explains how badly the other 30 markets impacted the crisis that emerged in the USA.

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