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Investor Inattention: A Hidden Cost of Choice in Pension Plans?

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  • Magnus Dahlquist
  • José Vicente Martinez

Abstract

We investigate inattention on the part of pension plan participants using a dataset covering savings in Sweden's Premium Pension System. These data permit direct comparison of the investment behaviours of pension and retail mutual fund investors. Unlike retail mutual fund investors, pension investors do not seem to react to past fund performance. This behaviour means that pension investors face a greater risk of being caught in poorly performing funds. Our evidence suggests that inertia and inattention to past performance may translate into poorer investment results for pension investors. We discuss a potential change in the design of defined contribution pension schemes that may mitigate costs for inattentive investors while maintaining flexibility for attentive investors.

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  • Magnus Dahlquist & José Vicente Martinez, 2015. "Investor Inattention: A Hidden Cost of Choice in Pension Plans?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 21(1), pages 1-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:eufman:v:21:y:2015:i:1:p:1-19
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-036X.2013.12008.x
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    3. Fong, Joelle H., 2020. "Taking control: Active investment choice in Singapore’s national defined contribution scheme," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    4. Seth, Himanshu & Talwar, Shalini & Bhatia, Anuj & Saxena, Akanksha & Dhir, Amandeep, 2020. "Consumer resistance and inertia of retail investors: Development of the resistance adoption inertia continuance (RAIC) framework," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    5. Anders Anderson & David T. Robinson, 2018. "Who Feels the Nudge? Knowledge, Self-Awareness and Retirement Savings Decisions," NBER Working Papers 25061, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Peng, Xiaowen & Alpert, Karen & Hsu, Grace Chia-Man, 2020. "Switching between superannuation funds: Does performance and marketing matter?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    7. Anders Anderson & David T Robinson, 2022. "Financial Literacy in the Age of Green Investment [Evaluating behaviorally motivated policy: experimental evidence from the lightbulb market]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(6), pages 1551-1584.
    8. Gökçen, Umut & Yalçın, Atakan, 2015. "The case against active pension funds: Evidence from the Turkish Private Pension System," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 46-67.
    9. Owain Ap Gwilym & Iftekhar Hasan & Qingwei Wang & Ru Xie, 2016. "In Search of Concepts: The Effects of Speculative Demand on Stock Returns," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 22(3), pages 427-449, June.
    10. Gökçen, Umut & Özsoy, S. Mehmet & Yalçın, Atakan, 2020. "Firm boundaries, incentives, and fund performance: Evidence from a private pension fund system," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).

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