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WE DECOMPOSE INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS’ PORTFOLIO RETURNS INTO PASSIVE BENCHMARK RETURNS, ACTIVE SECURITY SELECTION RETURNS, AND ACTIVE MARKET TIMING RETURNS. FOR THE AVERAGE INVESTOR IN OUR SAMPLE, PASSIVE BENCHMARK RETURNS EXPLAIN SOME 40% OF VARIATION IN LONGITUDINAL PORTFOLIO RETURNS, SECURITY SELECTION EXPLAINS AN ADDITIONAL 50%, AND MARKET TIMING PLAYS ONLY A MINOR ROLE. THIS STANDS IN STARK CONTRAST TO EARLIER RESULTS ON INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS WHERE PASSIVE BENCHMARK RETURNS (REFLECTING DIFFERENT ASSET ALLOCATION STRATEGIES) EXPLAIN OVER 90%. THE PREDOMINANCE OF SECURITY SELECTION COMES AT A COST FOR INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS: INVESTORS FROM THE HIGHEST QUINTILE IN TERMS OF SECURITY SELECTION ACTIVITY UNDERPERFORM THEIR PEERS FROM THE LOWEST QUINTILE BY MORE THAN 10 PERCENTAGE POINTS PER YEAR. TRANSACTION COSTS EXPLAIN ONLY PART OF THIS UNDERPERFORMANCE. THE LESS INVESTORS DIVERSIFY, THE WORSE THEY DO.
ON JUNE 18TH, WIRECARD’S SHARE PRICE PLUMMETED BY MORE THAN 60% FOLLOWING THE FIRM’S ADMISSION OF BEING SUBJECT TO “ENORMOUS FRAUD” AND BILLIONS OF EUROS MISSING. THIS REPORT DOCUMENTS GERMAN RETAIL INVESTORS’ RESPONSE AND FINDS THAT THE POPULARITY OF WIRECARD AMONG RETAIL INVESTORS LED TO SUBSTANTIAL LOSSES IN THEIR PORTFOLIOS. THESE LOSSES WERE EXACERBATED BY STRONG BUYING SENTIMENT AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT. THE FAILING STOCK WAS PURCHASED BY INVESTORS ALREADY ENGAGED IN IT AS WELL AS NON-EXPOSED CUSTOMERS.
Vielfältige Einschnitte im Rentensystem haben die Bedeutung der privaten Altersvorsorge in den vergangenen Jahren massiv erhöht. Neben Immobilienbesitz, Lebensversicherungen und staatlich geförderten Programmen zur privaten Vorsorge hat sich inzwischen auch die eigenverantwortliche Altersvorsorge mit Wertpapierdepots etabliert, so dass die Anzahl privater Depots in den letzten 25 Jahren von 8,0 auf 27,9 Millionen gestiegen ist. Vor diesem Hintergrund ist die Frage von zentraler Bedeutung, wie gut Anleger ihr Geld investieren.
THIS STUDY INVESTIGATES WHAT HAPPENS WHEN RETAIL CUSTOMERS ARE OFFERED FREE AND UNBIASED ADVICE. USING A LARGE FIELD EXPERIMENT IT SHOWS THAT THOSE WHO ACCEPT THE OFFER (5%) ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE MALE, OLDER, WEALTHIER, MORE EXPERIENCED AND MORE FINANCIALLY SOPHISTICATED. HOWEVER, EVEN THOUGH THE ADVICE WOULD HAVE HELPED, IT ACTUALLY LARGELY FAILED TO HELP BECAUSE THE CUSTOMERS DID NOT LISTEN TO IT. OVERALL, OUR RESULTS SUGGEST THAT THE MERE AVAILABILITY OF UNBIASED FINANCIAL ADVICE IS A NECESSARY BUT NOT SUFFICIENT CONDITION FOR BENEFITING RETAIL CUSTOMERS.
WE STUDY REDISTRIBUTIVE EFFECTS OF INFLATION USING A RANDOMIZED INFORMATION EXPERIMENT ON BANK CLIENTS. ON AVERAGE, INDIVIDUALS ARE WELL INFORMED ABOUT CURRENT INFLATION AND ARE CONCERNED ABOUT ITS IMPACT ON WEALTH. YET, MOST INDIVIDUALS ARE NOT AWARE OF HOW INFLATION ERODES NOMINAL POSITIONS. ONCE THEY RECEIVE INFORMATION ON THIS EROSION CHANNEL, THEY UPDATE PERCEPTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS ABOUT OWN NET NOMINAL POSITIONS. LEARNING ABOUT THE INFLATION-INDUCED EROSION OF NOMINAL POSITIONS CAUSALLY AFFECTS CHOICES IN HYPOTHETICAL REAL-ESTATE TRANSACTIONS AND ACTUAL CONSUMPTION. THE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT HOUSEHOLD WEALTH MEDIATES THE SENSITIVITY OF CONSUMPTION TO INFLATION ONCE HOUSEHOLDS ARE AWARE OF THE BALANCE-SHEET EFFECTS OF INFLATION.
INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS ARE REPEATEDLY FOUND TO UNDERPERFORM RELATIVE TO A MARKET INDEX. BESIDES EXCESSIVE TRADING, LITTLE IS KNOWN WHEN RETAIL INVESTORS COLLECTIVELY LOSE. THIS ARTICLE SHOWS THAT TRADING IN SHORT-SELLING CONSTRAINED, VOLATILE STOCKS AROUND EARNINGS ANNOUNCEMENTS IS COSTLY TO INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS. THE EFFECT IS PARTICULARLY PRONOUNCED FOR LESS SOPHISTICATED INVESTORS.