IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/por/fepwps/533.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Analysis of European Equity Funds Preferences for Stock Characteristics

Author

Listed:
  • Carlos F. Alves

    (Faculdade de Economia do Porto)

  • João Vaz Nunes

    (Faculdade de Economia do Porto)

  • Ana Paula Serra

    (Faculdade de Economia do Porto)

Abstract

We analyze the equity portfolio composition of investment funds of 15 European countries. We find that these institutions tend to prefer larger, more liquid, high dividend, low volatility stocks that belong to the main stock market indices. These results are consistent with previous studies that analyze institutional preferences for stock characteristics. These results are also consistent with theories of “prudent” behavior by institutions and are robust to factors such as funds holding a small number of stocks and funds with unusually large holdings relative to the number of outstanding shares of a single company. When we compare institutional preferences across sub-groups of funds, we find no relevant differences between the stock preferences of funds from Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain and those of funds from other countries; also, there seem to be no significant differences between funds with different investment styles and preferences before and during the recent financial crisis in Europe. We also find similar preferences for funds located in countries that adopted the Euro and funds from other countries. Additionally, we find that funds with long-term strategies are more conforming with “prudent” behavior than funds more focused on the short-term.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlos F. Alves & João Vaz Nunes & Ana Paula Serra, 2014. "Analysis of European Equity Funds Preferences for Stock Characteristics," FEP Working Papers 533, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    • Handle: RePEc:por:fepwps:533
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.fep.up.pt/investigacao/workingpapers/wp533.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. De Santis, Giorgio & Gerard, Bruno, 1997. "International Asset Pricing and Portfolio Diversification with Time-Varying Risk," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(5), pages 1881-1912, December.
    2. Lakonishok, Josef & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W., 1992. "The impact of institutional trading on stock prices," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 23-43, August.
    3. Paul A. Gompers & Andrew Metrick, 2001. "Institutional Investors and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(1), pages 229-259.
    4. Del Guercio, Diane, 1996. "The distorting effect of the prudent-man laws on institutional equity investments," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 31-62, January.
    5. Benjamin M. Friedman, 1995. "Economic Implications of Changing Share Ownership," NBER Working Papers 5141, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Arif Khurshed & Stephen Lin & Mingzhu Wang, 2011. "Institutional block-holdings of UK firms: do corporate governance mechanisms matter?," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 133-152.
    7. Grauer, Robert R & Hakansson, Nils H, 1987. "Gains from International Diversification: 1968-85 Returns on Portfolios of Stocks and Bonds," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 42(3), pages 721-739, July.
    8. Levy, Haim & Sarnat, Marshall, 1970. "International Diversification of Investment Portfolios," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 60(4), pages 668-675, September.
    9. Russ Wermers, 1999. "Mutual Fund Herding and the Impact on Stock Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(2), pages 581-622, April.
    10. French, Kenneth R & Poterba, James M, 1991. "Investor Diversification and International Equity Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(2), pages 222-226, May.
    11. Scharfstein, David S & Stein, Jeremy C, 1990. "Herd Behavior and Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(3), pages 465-479, June.
    12. Welch, Ivo, 1992. "Sequential Sales, Learning, and Cascades," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(2), pages 695-732, June.
    13. Grinblatt, Mark & Titman, Sheridan & Wermers, Russ, 1995. "Momentum Investment Strategies, Portfolio Performance, and Herding: A Study of Mutual Fund Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1088-1105, December.
    14. Banz, Rolf W., 1981. "The relationship between return and market value of common stocks," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 3-18, March.
    15. Abhijit V. Banerjee, 1992. "A Simple Model of Herd Behavior," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(3), pages 797-817.
    16. Froot, Kenneth A & Scharftstein, David S & Stein, Jeremy C, 1992. "Herd on the Street: Informational Inefficiencies in a Market with Short-Term Speculation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1461-1484, September.
    17. Andreas Walter & Friedrich Moritz Weber, 2006. "Herding in the German Mutual Fund Industry," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 12(3), pages 375-406, June.
    18. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    19. Falkenstein, Eric G, 1996. "Preferences for Stock Characteristics as Revealed by Mutual Fund Portfolio Holdings," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(1), pages 111-135, March.
    20. John R. Nofsinger & Richard W. Sias, 1999. "Herding and Feedback Trading by Institutional and Individual Investors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(6), pages 2263-2295, December.
    21. Luis Ferruz Agudo & J. L. Sarto & L. Vicente, 2008. "Herding behaviour in Spanish equity funds," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(7), pages 573-576.
    22. Carlos Alves & Victor Mendes, 2010. "Mutual funds biased preference for the parent's stock: evidence and explanation," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(16), pages 1309-1320.
    23. Sam Wylie, 2005. "Fund Manager Herding: A Test of the Accuracy of Empirical Results Using U.K. Data," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(1), pages 381-403, January.
    24. Robert R. Grauer and Nils H. Hakansson., 1987. "Gains from International Diversification: l968-85 Returns on Portfolios of Stocks and Bonds," Research Program in Finance Working Papers 168, University of California at Berkeley.
    25. Hirshleifer, David & Subrahmanyam, Avanidhar & Titman, Sheridan, 1994. "Security Analysis and Trading Patterns When Some Investors Receive Information before Others," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(5), pages 1665-1698, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guo, Xu & Gu, Chen & Zebedee, Allan A. & Chiu, Li-ting, 2024. "The effect of institutional herding on stock prices: The differentiating role of credit ratings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    2. I. Koetsier & J.A. Bikker, 2018. "Herding behavior of Dutch pension funds in asset class investments," Working Papers 18-04, Utrecht School of Economics.
    3. Marius Popescu & Zhaojin Xu, 2018. "Mutual fund herding and reputational concerns," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 42(3), pages 550-565, July.
    4. Jiao, Yawen & Ye, Pengfei, 2014. "Mutual fund herding in response to hedge fund herding and the impacts on stock prices," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 131-148.
    5. Choi, Nicole & Skiba, Hilla, 2015. "Institutional herding in international markets," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 246-259.
    6. Puput Tri Komalasari & Marwan Asri & Bernardinus M. Purwanto & Bowo Setiyono, 2022. "Herding behaviour in the capital market: What do we know and what is next?," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 72(3), pages 745-787, September.
    7. Cai, Fang & Han, Song & Li, Dan & Li, Yi, 2019. "Institutional herding and its price impact: Evidence from the corporate bond market," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(1), pages 139-167.
    8. Hao Fang & Yang-Cheng Lu & Hwey-Yun Yau, 2014. "The Effects of Stock Characteristics on the Direction and Extent of Herding by Foreign Institutional Investors in the Taiwan Stock Exchange," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(S2), pages 60-74.
    9. Uchida, Hirofumi & Nakagawa, Ryuichi, 2007. "Herd behavior in the Japanese loan market: Evidence from bank panel data," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 555-583, October.
    10. Chen, An-Sing & Hong, Bi-Shia, 2006. "Institutional ownership changes and returns around analysts' earnings forecast release events: Evidence from Taiwan," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 2471-2488, September.
    11. Liao, Tsai-Ling & Huang, Chih-Jen & Wu, Chieh-Yuan, 2011. "Do fund managers herd to counter investor sentiment?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 207-212, February.
    12. Hao Fang & Yang-Cheng Lu & Hwey-Yun Yau, 2014. "The Effects of Stock Characteristics on the Direction and Extent of Herding by Foreign Institutional Investors in the Taiwan Stock Exchange," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(2S), pages 60-74, March.
    13. Pegah Dehghani & Ros Zam Zam Sapian, 2014. "Sectoral herding behavior in the aftermarket of Malaysian IPOs," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 227-246, July.
    14. Jeon, Jin Q & Moffett, Clay M., 2010. "Herding by foreign investors and emerging market equity returns: Evidence from Korea," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 698-710, October.
    15. Li, Wei & Rhee, Ghon & Wang, Steven Shuye, 2017. "Differences in herding: Individual vs. institutional investors," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 174-185.
    16. Nerissa C. Brown & Kelsey D. Wei & Russ Wermers, 2014. "Analyst Recommendations, Mutual Fund Herding, and Overreaction in Stock Prices," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(1), pages 1-20, January.
    17. I. Koetsier & J.A. Bikker, 2017. "Herding behaviour of Dutch pension funds in sovereign bond investments," Working Papers 17-15, Utrecht School of Economics.
    18. Ashish Kumar Garg & Subrata Kumar Mitra & Dilip Kumar, 2016. "Do foreign institutional investors herd in emerging markets? A study of individual stocks," DECISION: Official Journal of the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Springer;Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, vol. 43(3), pages 281-300, September.
    19. Kremer, Stephanie & Nautz, Dieter, 2013. "Causes and consequences of short-term institutional herding," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1676-1686.
    20. Hung, Weifeng & Lu, Chia-Chi & Lee, Cheng F., 2010. "Mutual fund herding its impact on stock returns: Evidence from the Taiwan stock market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 477-493, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    mutual fund; institutional investors behaviour;

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:por:fepwps:533. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fepuppt.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.