Investor Characteristics and their Impact on the Decision to use a Robo-advisor

We survey 231 undergraduate students to analyze how retail investors’ characteristics influence their decision to use a robo-advisor. Characteristics such as the willingness to take risk, extraversion, and optimism are significant in univariate tests but the willingness to take risk and the internal locus of control are significant in multivariate settings. Participants who use the robo-advisor invest more and are more likely to also invest on their own in both stocks and bonds. We also find statistically significant differences between participants who exclusively use the robo-advisor for investments in stocks and bonds and participants who use the robo-advisor and invest some money in stocks and bonds on their own.

Real Estate Markets and Lending: Does Local Growth Fuel Risk?

Real estate price growth affects credit risk for several reasons: it provides input for economic forecasts as it’s closely tied to economic growth; when used as collateral by banks, rising real estate prices may decrease both expected and actual losses; and banks may become less risk averse in lending practices in the presence of rising property prices. Therefore, we analyze these effects on loan portfolios’ estimated and realized risks on a local level. Using data of 390 German savings banks, however, we find that real estate prices have little or no impact on savings banks’ credit portfolio risk or risk precautions.