Come together: trust, sociability and individual investors' stock-portfolio returns

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Stålnacke
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Individual Investors ◽  
Risky Assets ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Portfolio Decisions ◽  
Portfolio Holdings ◽  
Portfolio Returns ◽  
Stock Portfolios ◽  
Stock Portfolio

PurposePrevious studies have found that trusting and sociable individuals are more likely to participate in the stock market and hold risky assets. The purpose of this paper is to explore if trust and sociability also are related to individual investors' stock-portfolio returns.Design/methodology/approachThe authors study the questions in the paper by linking survey measures of trust and sociability to investors' actual stock portfolios.FindingsThe authors find that trusting investors acquire higher raw and risk-adjusted stock-portfolio returns, but that the returns do not differ depending on how sociable investors are. These results suggest that trust is important for investors' stock-portfolio decisions, and that trusting investors tend to perform better in the stock market than less-trusting investors.Originality/valueThis is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the first paper that relates survey measures of trust and sociability to investors' actual stock-portfolio holdings. This is important to increase the understanding for how trust and sociability are related to the financial decisions individuals makes.

scholarly journals Do the Rich Get Richer in the Stock Market? Evidence from India

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Y. Campbell ◽  
Tarun Ramadorai ◽  
Benjamin Ranish
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Wealth Inequality ◽  
Individual Investors ◽  
Risky Assets ◽  
Stock Portfolios ◽  
The Rich

We use data on Indian stock portfolios to show that return heterogeneity is the primary contributor to increasing inequality of wealth held in risky assets by Indian individual investors. Return heterogeneity increases equity wealth inequality through two main channels, both of which are related to the prevalence of undiversified accounts that own relatively few stocks. First, some undiversified portfolios randomly do well, while others randomly do poorly. Second, larger accounts diversify more effectively and thereby earn higher average log returns even though their average simple returns are no higher than those of smaller accounts. (JEL D14, D31, G11, O16)

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.

Investment environment, stock market perception and stock investments after stock market crash

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Tariqul Islam Khan ◽  
Siow-Hooi Tan ◽  
Lee-Lee Chong ◽  
Gerald Guan Gan Goh
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Market Performance ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Individual Investors ◽  
Investment Environment ◽  
Stock Market Crash ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Stock Market Performance ◽  
Market Perception ◽  
Stock Investments

PurposeThis study examines how the importance of external investment environment factors affect stock market perception, and how stock market perception affects stock investments after stock market crash witnessed by individual investors in one of the emerging stock markets.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey was administrated among 223 individual investors who experienced stock market crash in 2010–2011 in Bangladesh, and the proposed model was tested by the partial least squares-structural equation modeling PLS-SEM model.FindingsFindings show that the importance of Bangladesh's stock market performance, government policy, economic issues and neighboring country's stock market performance has effects on investors' stock market perception. This perception, in turn, decreases monthly stock trading and short-term investment horizon. The findings further show the mediating effect of stock market perception.Practical implicationsInvestors need to carefully consider the external investment environment when they form their stock market perception, as this perception drives stock investments. Analogously, regulators should ensure releasing timely and updated statistics on external investment factors.Originality/valueAddressing those investors who encountered stock market crash, a set of external investment environment issues, stock market perception and stock investments are new in the literature.

Trust and Household Portfolios

2021 ◽  
pp. 78-97
Author(s):  
Diego Lubian
Keyword(s):  
Financial Markets ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Financial Literacy ◽  
Risky Assets ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Portfolio Decisions ◽  
Financial Decision ◽  
Financial Portfolio ◽  
Socio Demographic Factors ◽  
The Relationship

This article provides empirical evidence on the existence and the extent of the influence of trust in financial decisions using individual data on Italian households from the Survey on Household Income and Wealth, 2010. This article studies the relationship between, trust in people, trust in banks and more detailed previously unexplored dimensions of trust, and household financial portfolio decisions. The article provides empirical evidence that trust in people and trust in banks affect both participation in financial markets, the share of risky assets and the diversification of the financial portfolio, controlling socio-demographic factors, risk aversion, and financial literacy as well. The article finds that trust is important for individuals with a lower level of education who have limited possibilities to acquire and process information on financial markets need to rely in trustworthy relationship to define their financial portfolio. Further, we present evidence that the main channel by which trust affects financial decision making and determines too little participation, a lower share of risky assets in the financial wealth and poorly diversified portfolios is trust in family and friends.

Individual investors’ sophistication and expectations of risk and return

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oscar Stålnacke
Keyword(s):  
Lower Risk ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Individual Investors ◽  
Risk And Return ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Linear Regressions ◽  
Survey Measure

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual investors’ level of sophistication and their expectations of risk and return in the stock market. Design/methodology/approach The author combines survey and registry data on individual investors in Sweden to obtain 11 sophistication proxies that previous research has related to individuals’ financial decisions. These proxies are related to a survey measure regarding individual investors’ expectations of risk and return in an index fund using linear regressions. Findings The findings in this paper indicate that sophisticated investors have lower risk and higher return expectations that are closer to objective measures than those of less-sophisticated investors. Originality/value These results are important, since they enhance the understanding of the underlying mechanisms through which sophistication can influence financial decisions.

scholarly journals Macroeconomic announcements and stock returns in US portfolios formed on operating profitability and investment

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constantinos Alexiou ◽  
Sofoklis Vogiazas ◽  
Abid Taqvi
Keyword(s):  
Stock Returns ◽  
Macroeconomic News ◽  
Portfolio Returns ◽  
Stock Portfolios ◽  
Macroeconomic Announcements ◽  
Personal Consumption ◽  
Investment Level ◽  
Portfolio Managers ◽  
Economic Expectations ◽  
Stock Portfolio

The authors explore the reaction of US stock portfolio returns to macroeconomic announcements spanning the period from April 1998 to May 2017. Using daily returns of 25 portfolios formed on operating profitability and investment, the authors investigate the extent to which potential asymmetries permeate the stock portfolios following macroeconomic announcements. The three methodological approaches utilized in this study suggest that the ISM non-manufacturing index, employees on non-farm payrolls, retail sales, personal consumption expenditure and initial jobless claims have a significant impact on portfolio returns. Also, portfolios consisting of companies with higher operating profitability and investment level are found to be less responsive to announcements. As the particular area has received little currency over the years, this contribution is of great significance, because it provides insights into the reaction of returns in value-weighted portfolios to announcements on certain macro-indicators. At the same time, the study informs portfolio managers of the implications of macroeconomic news, which drive economic expectations and can reverberate through the expected returns in US stock portfolios.

Life-cycle asset allocation and the peso problem: does ambiguity aversion matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuno Silva
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
Asset Allocation ◽  
Stock Prices ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
Ambiguity Aversion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Portfolio Decisions ◽  
State Of The Economy ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThe study aims to show that ambiguity aversion exerts a non-negligible effect on the investors' decisions, especially due to the possibility of sharp declines in stock prices.Design/methodology/approachThe vast majority of previous studies on life-cycle consumption and asset allocation assume that the equity premium is constant. This study evaluates the impact of rare disasters that shift the stock market to a low return state on investors' consumption and portfolio decisions. The author assumes that investors are averse to ambiguity relative to the current state of the economy and must incur a per period cost to participate in the stock market and solve their optimal consumption and asset allocation problem using dynamic programming.FindingsThe results show that most young investors choose not to invest in stocks because they have low accumulated wealth and the potential return from their stock market investments would not cover the participation costs. Furthermore, ambiguity-averse investors hold considerably fewer stocks throughout their lifetime than ambiguity-neutral ones. The fraction of wealth invested in stocks over the typical consumer's life is hump-shaped: it is low for a young individual, peaks at his early 30s and then decreases until his retirement age.Originality/valueTo the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study that assesses the impact of negative stock price jumps on the optimal portfolio of an ambiguity-averse investor.

Impact of behavioral factors on investors’ financial decisions: case of the Egyptian stock market

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noura Metawa ◽  
M. Kabir Hassan ◽  
Saad Metawa ◽  
M. Faisal Safa
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Behavioral Finance ◽  
Investor Sentiment ◽  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Individual Investors ◽  
Herd Behavior ◽  
Behavioral Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationship between investors’ demographic characteristics (age, gender, education level and experience) and their investment decisions through behavioral factors (sentiment, overconfidence, overreaction and underreaction and herd behavior) as mediator variables in the Egyptian stock market. Design/methodology/approach This paper collects data from a structured questionnaire survey carried out among 384 local Egyptian, foreign, institutional and individual investors. This paper used a partial multiple regression method to analyze the effect of investors’ demographic characteristics on investment decisions through behavioral factors as the mediator variable. Findings Investor sentiment, overreaction and underreaction, overconfidence and herd behavior significantly affect investment decisions. Also, age, gender and the level of education have significant positive effects on investment decisions by investors. Experience does not play a significant role in investment decisions, but as investors gain experience, they tend to overlook the emotional factors. Practical implications The findings of this paper would help to understand common behavioral patterns of investors and indicate a path toward the growth of the Egyptian stock market. Originality/value There is a lack of research in behavioral finance covering Middle East and North African markets. This paper attempts to fulfill the gap by analyzing behavioral factors in the Egyptian market.

scholarly journals Statistical studies of financial reports and stock markets

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shyam Sunder
Keyword(s):  
Stock Market ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Financial Reports ◽  
Market Data ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Financial Decisions ◽  
Statistical Studies ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the usefulness of statistical studies of financial reports and stock market data for improving corporate financial reports. Design/methodology/approach Analytical writing. Findings It is often claimed that statistical studies of co-variation between financial and stock market data can help set better financial reporting policy. Such co-variation, even when it can be estimated, tells us little about which financial reports help to make better financial decisions. A case in support of such claims remains to be made. Practical implications The readers are advised to be extremely careful in drawing inferences from studies of co-variation between accounting and stock market data for financial reporting policy. Social implications Inference from accounting empirical studies to policy needs better rationale to avoid bad policy consequences. Originality/value This paper raises original questions about policy inferences from a large class of empirical research in accounting.

Analyzing causal relationships of effective factors on the decision making of individual investors to purchase shares

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-41
Author(s):  
Hossein Sayyadi Tooranloo ◽  
Pedram Azizi ◽  
Ali Sayyahpoor
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Stock Market ◽  
Stock Exchange ◽  
Individual Investors ◽  
Multi Criteria Decision Making ◽  
Causal Relationships ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Effective Factors

Purpose Changes in economic markets have made it necessary to understand the psychology of individual investors. Conducting effective studies on the decision of investors to buy stock in the stock market can be useful. Therefore, it is necessary to identify and prioritize the factors affecting the decision-making of investors to purchase shares of the stock exchange. The purpose of this study was to analyze causal relationships and to weight effective factors on individual investment to purchase shares of Tehran Stock Exchange. Design/methodology/approach The present study is applied research in the term of its purposes and a descriptive-survey one in the term of data gathering methods. The data required in this study was collected through library and field studies. The study population included 35 investment experts. In present study, multi-criteria decision-making techniques in type-2 fuzzy environments have been used to analyze the causal relationships and weighing the factors affecting individual investment in purchasing stock in the stock market. Findings In the study, 4 indicators and 20 sub-indicators influencing individual investors’ decision to purchase shares of Tehran Stock Exchange were selected based on the literature review in the field of investment in the stock exchange, as well as interviews with experts. Analyzing the opinions of experts showed that they have much paid attention to financial index compare to the economic, political and psychological indicators of the market in determining the priority of indicators. In analyzing sub-indicators, it was identified that Iranian investors pay special attention to economic and political developments, political news and international economic developments. Research limitations/implications The present study has been carried out in Iran, and therefore, is geographically limited to Iran. In thematic terms, it is limited to effective factors of individual investments in Tehran Stock Exchange. The statistical population of present study was limited to investing experts in Tehran Stock Exchange. The difference in financial, economic, social and political conditions of individuals was another limitation of present study. The main consequences of research were the explanation of causes of investors’ higher attention to financial factors than economic, political and mental factors of market in buying stocks. Originality/value Given the uncertainty in the market status, using multi-criteria decision-making techniques in financial analysis can help decision-makers to make better decisions. In addition, it would be possible to take into account many variables that do not have a mathematical aspect but are important in decision-making and lead to increased decision-making satisfaction. The research initially analyzed causal relationships of determinants of individual investment on stock exchange for buying stocks through a type-2 fuzzy approach.

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