Some individual investors follow institutional investors in trading, a phenomenon called herding, that leads to excess market volatility and mispriced stocks. Individual investors who herded suffered from inferior investment performances and monetary losses, and the impact is broader in an individual investor dominant market such as Taiwan. Behavioral finance is the theoretical base of herd behavior. The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to examine individual investor herd behavior as related to characteristics of stocks in the Taiwan stock market. The research questions addressed what differences in individual investor herd behavior, if any, existed by market capitalization, price-to-book (P/B) ratio, and industry affiliation. The target population was the individual investors who traded in Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) between January and December 2016. Participants were a purposive sampling of the target population with the exclusions of individual investors who traded illiquid stocks or exchange sanctioned stocks only. Data were collected through a subscription of TWSE data. The extent of individual herding estimated with Lakonishok, Shleifer, and Vishny's measure was 0.04. The 3 characteristics of stocks were separately and as a whole related to individual herding. The findings confirmed more serious sell-herding than buy-herding. The result from the logistic regression extended the knowledge of more serious herding in low P/B ratio stock with other variables controlled and different extents of herding by industry affiliation. The findings may improve individual investor financial literacy that may result in the positive social change of the alleviation of both herding and inferior investment performance.

Collective investments have become a very popular investment vehicle in South Africa because it is, among other things, transparent, liquid and easily accessible. Growing investor knowledge, good market returns and its suitability for diversification, which minimizes risk, also contributes to its popularity. A value chain that adds value to the investor has developed around the collective investment scheme. The role players in this chain include the investment manager, the management company and financial intermediaries. The growth in this part of the collective investment industry has been so dynamic that regulation and the introduction of various new intermediary layers are constantly affecting the value chain and the value added for the investor. Research was conducted to assess the impact of the value chain on the behaviour of the individual investor and the effect this has on wealth creation. The literary review established that the environment surrounding this dynamic and interdependent value chain is well-regulated and that costs and investor behaviour could have a significant impact on investment returns. The empirical study revealed that the average individual investor recognizes the impact of the value chain on his investment, but perceives himself as being knowledgeable enough to avert ineffectiveness in the chain by ensuring desired investment returns through good investment decisions. Over-diversification and irresponsible switching between funds by the investor can, however, destroy value and negate the effect of long-term returns. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Cette thèse est constituée de quatre chapitres distincts. Dans le premier chapitre, j'utilise une restriction exogène de la capacité des entreprises de transport routier à consentir des délais de paiement à leurs clients. Je montre que certaines entreprises prêtent à leurs clients au détriment de leurs investissements, de leur rentabilité et en s'exposant au risque de défaillance. Dans le second chapitre, je montre que les fonds d'investissement dont l'horizon est long choisissent des entreprises plus jeunes, à un stade moins avancé de leur développement. Les entreprises investies par des fonds dont l'horizon est plus long accroissent leur stock de brevets plus rapidement que celles qui sont investies par des fonds dont l'horizon est plus court. Le troisième chapitre est le résultat d'une collaboration avec Ron Kaniel et David Sraer. Nous utilisons des données détaillées de courtier et entreprenons une exploration quantitative du comportement des investisseurs individuels pendant la crise financière de 2008. Nous montrons que les investisseurs qui ont l'air les plus sophistiqués dans la période antérieure à la crise ont une propension moins grande à fuir vers les actifs sans risque, et une propension plus grande à être apporteurs de liquidité et à obtenir des rendements élevés pendant la crise. Dans le quatrième chapitre, j'explore l'idée selon laquelle les ménages ont une connaissance limitée de l'exposition de leur portefeuille aux facteurs de risque systématique, ce qui les conduit à faire des erreurs. Cette idée est appliquée à la décision des investisseurs individuels d'intervenir activement plutôt que d'investir passivement sur les marchés d'actions. / This dissertation is made of four distinct chapters. In the first chapter, I consider an exogenous restriction on the ability of French trucking firms to extend payment terms to their clients. I find that they provide trade credit at the cost of lower investment, lower return on assets, and higher default risk. In the second chapter, I show that private equity funds with a longer horizon select younger companies at an earlier stage of their development. Companies which receive funding from funds with a longer horizon increase their patent stock significantly more than companies which receive funding from investors with a shorter horizon. The third chapter presents a joint work with Ron Kaniel and David Sraer. We use detailed brokerage account data to provide a quantitative exploration of the behavior of retail investors during the financial crisis of 2008. We show that investors who appear more sophisticated on these dimensions in the pre-crisis period were, in the post-crisis period, less likely to flee to safety, more likely to engage in liquidity provisions and to earn higher returns. In the fourth chapter, I develop the idea that households have an imprecise knowledge of their portfolio's exposure to systematic risk and that this leads them to make investment mistakes. This idea is tested in the context of the decision to actively trade rather than passively invest in the stock market

[pt] O propósito deste trabalho é analisar o impacto da tributação na seleção de produtos de acumulação de recursos de longo prazo sob o ponto de vista de um investidor individual. Para o investidor tributado e avesso a risco é realizada uma simulação de seu patrimônio final líquido de impostos sob três estratégias distintas: aplicação em fundo de investimento, aplicação em plano de previdência PGBL e aplicação em seguro de vida com cobertura por sobrevivência VGBL. Além da hipótese de resgate total dos recursos, é realizada a comparação dos veículos sob a ótica do recebimento de uma renda mensal após o período de acumulação. São examinados diferentes horizontes de investimento, saldos acumulados iniciais, faixas de renda, taxas de retorno e tipos de fundos onde estarão aplicados os recursos. O trabalho incorpora as alterações das regras tributárias divulgadas no final de 2004 e início de 2005 (Leis 11.033/2004 e 11.053/2004 e suas regulamentações) e se propõe a auxiliar os investidores na escolha do melhor veículo de investimento. / [en] The purpose of this research is to analyze the impact of taxation on the selection of long term wealth accumulation products under an individual investor's point of view. For the tax paying and risk averse investor, a simulation of his final after-tax net worth is accomplished under three different strategies: investments in mutual funds, investments in retirement plans similar to Individual Retirement Account (IRA) in the USA and investments in life insurance with coverage for survival. Besides the hypothesis of total redemption of the accumulated balance, a comparison of the three vehicles above is accomplished under the assumption of reception of a monthly income after the accumulation period. The analysis is performed under different investment horizons, initial invested balances, levels of income and profiles of funds where the resources will be invested. The research incorporates the new tax rules alterations published in late 2004 and early 2005 (Laws 11.033/2004 and 11.053/2004 and their regulations) and it intends to aid investors on how to choose the best investment vehicle.

Collective investments have become a very popular investment vehicle in South Africa because it is, among other things, transparent, liquid and easily accessible. Growing investor knowledge, good market returns and its suitability for diversification, which minimizes risk, also contributes to its popularity. A value chain that adds value to the investor has developed around the collective investment scheme. The role players in this chain include the investment manager, the management company and financial intermediaries. The growth in this part of the collective investment industry has been so dynamic that regulation and the introduction of various new intermediary layers are constantly affecting the value chain and the value added for the investor. Research was conducted to assess the impact of the value chain on the behaviour of the individual investor and the effect this has on wealth creation. The literary review established that the environment surrounding this dynamic and interdependent value chain is well-regulated and that costs and investor behaviour could have a significant impact on investment returns. The empirical study revealed that the average individual investor recognizes the impact of the value chain on his investment, but perceives himself as being knowledgeable enough to avert ineffectiveness in the chain by ensuring desired investment returns through good investment decisions. Over-diversification and irresponsible switching between funds by the investor can, however, destroy value and negate the effect of long-term returns. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

Bakgrund: År 2022 kantades av Rysslands invasion av Ukraina, börsnedgång, stigande inflation och styrräntor. Det bidrog till att allt fler sökte hjälp av finansiella rådgivare för att utifrån livssituationen få hjälp med att nå sina sparmål och maximera sin avkastning. I tidigare forskning råder det delade meningar kring om den finansiella rådgivaren faktiskt bidrar till positiva ekonomiska utfall hos kunden. Å andra sidan får den finansiella rådgivaren, åtminstone privat, kunskap till sig via sitt arbete som torde leda till en hög finansiell bildning. Huruvida det faktiskt bidrar till positiva ekonomiska utfall i den finansiella rådgivarens egna investeringsbeslut och sparande under 2022 leder således till frågan, om de kan hjälpa andra, kan de även hjälpa sig själva? Syfte: Studien syftar till att skapa en förståelse för hur finansiella rådgivares privata sparande och investeringsbeslut samvarierar med olika faktorer såsom livssituation, psykologiska bias och erfarenheter under 2022. Vidare ämnar studien utforska hur finansiella rådgivare ställer sig till ytterligare utbildning inom beteendeekonomi och huruvida de tror att det kan bidra till bättre finansiellt beslutsfattande. Metod: En kvalitativ metod har använts för att uppfylla studiens syfte. Tio finansiella rådgivare intervjuades genom semistrukturerade djupintervjuer. Slutsats: Studien finner att placering i livscykeln, psykologiska bias samt erfarenhet samvarierar med den finansiella rådgivarens privata investeringsbeslut och sparande under 2022. Placeringen i livscykeln samvarierar främst med riskaversionen, därutöver har de finansiella rådgivarna inte kunnat motstå fall av samtliga undersökta bias i studien. Erfarenheten samvarierar med en minskad benägenhet att falla offer för vissa psykologiska bias, förutom överkonfidens, där effekten snarare är den motsatta. Vidare anser de finansiella rådgivarna att ytterligare utbildning inom beteendeekonomi inte skulle vara värdeskapande för deras privata investeringsbeslut, samtidigt som de anser sig ha behov av det i sitt arbete. / Background: The year 2022 was characterized by the invasion of Ukraine, the downturn of the stock market, rising inflation and increases in the benchmark interest rate. This led to the increasing search for financial advisors who, using life circumstances, could assist the individual in reaching personal saving goals and maximizing returns on investments. In prior research, there are divided opinions about whether financial advisors contribute to positive financial outcomes for the client. The financial advisors, at least privately, gain knowledge through their work which should lead to a high level of financial literacy. Whether it contributes to positive financial outcomes in the financial advisor's own investment decisions and savings in 2022 thus leads to the question, if they can help others, can they also help themselves? Aim: The study aims to create an understanding of how financial advisers' private investments decisions and savings in 2022 have been affected by various factors such as life situation, psychological bias, and experiences. Furthermore, the study intends to explore financial advisers' perception of how further education in behavioral economics could have contributed to better financial decision-making. Method: A qualitative method has been used to fulfill the purpose of the study. Ten financial advisors were interviewed through semi-structured in-depth interviews. Conclusion: The study finds that placement in the life cycle, psychological bias, and experience had an impact on financial advisors’ private investment decisions and savings during 2022. The placement in the lifecycle primarily influences the risk aversion, while the financial advisors have not been able to withstand cases of all investigated biases in the study. Experience has contributed to mitigating the impact of psychological biases to some extent while also creating overconfidence. The financial advisors believe that additional education in behavioral economics would not add value to their private investment decisions, while they consider themselves to need it in their work.