Investment Portfolios in an Emerging Economy: What Drives Portfolio’s Diversification?

Authors

  • Pedro Luiz Albertin Bono Milan EAESP-FGV GVCef: Finance Research Center
  • William Eid Jr. EAESP-FGV GVCef: Finance Research Center

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/emaj.2017.120

Keywords:

investment portfolios, diversification, risky assets, behavioral finance

Abstract

This study sheds light on the investment portfolio’s decisions through behavioral insights. The study intends to identify personal characteristics that drive the level of diversification and lead investors to allocate resources in risky assets in an emergent economy, deepening the discussion about investment decisions and bringing some behavioral insights to the debate. The study has a unique and heterogeneous database of individual financial allocations from Brazil, one of the largest emergent economies. The characteristics of Brazilian investors play an important role in investment decisions, high educated and married investors tend to display diversified portfolios. To invest in risky assets, male investors have a 43% greater likelihood of investing in risky assets than females, highlighting the discussion on gender and investment decisions. Moreover, married investors tend to exhibit conservative portfolios. We observed that traditional investors are under-diversified, allocating primarily in traditional and safety assets. The results suggest that the investment decisions can be subject to psychological biases defined in behavioral finance theory.

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Published

2017-09-22

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2017)

Section

Articles

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