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Where Do Institutional Investors Seek Shelter when Disaster Strikes? Evidence from COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Simon Glossner

    (University of Virginia - Darden School of Business)

  • Pedro Matos

    (University of Virginia - Darden School of Business; European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI))

  • Stefano Ramelli

    (University of Zurich - Department of Banking and Finance)

  • Alexander F. Wagner

    (University of Zurich - Department of Banking and Finance; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI); Swiss Finance Institute)

Abstract

Institutional investors played a crucial role in the COVID-19 market crash. U.S. stocks with higher institutional ownership -- in particular, those held more by active, short-term, and domestic institutions -- performed worse. An analysis of changes in holdings through the first quarter of 2020 reveals that mutual funds, investment advisors, and pension funds favored stocks with strong financials (low debt and high cash), whereas hedge funds sold stocks indiscriminately. None of these institutional investor groups appear to have actively tilted their portfolios toward firms with better environmental and social performance. Data from a large discount brokerage indicate that retail investors acted as liquidity providers. Overall, the results suggest that when a tail risk realizes, institutional investors express a preference for "hard" measures of firm resilience.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Glossner & Pedro Matos & Stefano Ramelli & Alexander F. Wagner, 2020. "Where Do Institutional Investors Seek Shelter when Disaster Strikes? Evidence from COVID-19," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 20-56, Swiss Finance Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp2056
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    File URL: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3655271
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    Cited by:

    1. Chung, Kee H. & Chuwonganant, Chairat, 2023. "COVID-19 pandemic and the stock market: Liquidity, price efficiency, and trading," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    2. Ding, Wenzhi & Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Xie, Wensi, 2021. "Corporate immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 802-830.
    3. Kuvvet, Emre, 2022. "Robinhood investors and corporate misconduct," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    4. Bing, Tao & Ma, Hongkun, 2021. "COVID-19 pandemic effect on trading and returns: Evidence from the Chinese stock market," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 384-396.
    5. Hasso, Tim & Müller, Daniel & Pelster, Matthias & Warkulat, Sonja, 2022. "Who participated in the GameStop frenzy? Evidence from brokerage accounts," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    6. Mahata, Ajit & Rai, Anish & Nurujjaman, Md. & Prakash, Om, 2021. "Modeling and analysis of the effect of COVID-19 on the stock price: V and L-shape recovery," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 574(C).
    7. Ivo Welch, 2022. "The Wisdom of the Robinhood Crowd," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(3), pages 1489-1527, June.
    8. Cakici, Nusret & Zaremba, Adam, 2021. "Who should be afraid of infections? Pandemic exposure and the cross-section of stock returns," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    9. Nils Engelhardt & Jens Ekkenga & Peter Posch, 2021. "ESG Ratings and Stock Performance during the COVID-19 Crisis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-15, June.
    10. Amore, Mario Daniele & Pelucco, Valerio & Quarato, Fabio, 2022. "Family ownership during the Covid-19 pandemic," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    11. Pavlova, Ivelina & de Boyrie, Maria E., 2022. "ESG ETFs and the COVID-19 stock market crash of 2020: Did clean funds fare better?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    12. Zaremba, Adam & Kizys, Renatas & Tzouvanas, Panagiotis & Aharon, David Y. & Demir, Ender, 2021. "The quest for multidimensional financial immunity to the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from international stock markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    13. Neukirchen, Daniel & Engelhardt, Nils & Krause, Miguel & Posch, Peter N., 2023. "The value of (private) investor relations during the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    14. Umar, Zaghum & Yousaf, Imran & Zaremba, Adam, 2021. "Comovements between heavily shorted stocks during a market squeeze: Lessons from the GameStop trading frenzy," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    15. Zhang, Dongyang & Zheng, Wenping, 2022. "Does COVID-19 make the firms’ performance worse? Evidence from the Chinese listed companies," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 560-570.
    16. Massimiliano Affinito & Raffaele Santioni, 2021. "When the panic broke out: COVID-19 and investment funds' portfolio rebalancing around the world," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1342, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    17. Gupta, Nilesh & Mishra, Anil V & Jacob, Joshy, 2022. "Prospect theory preferences and global mutual fund flows," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    18. Liu, Yi & Jin, Justin, 2023. "Social distancing and local bias," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    19. Laleh Samarbakhsh & Amanjot Singh, 2022. "COVID‐19 and hedge fund equity ownership," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 356-364, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cash holdings; Coronavirus; Corporate debt; COVID-19; ESG; Event study; Financial crisis; Institutional ownership; Leverage; Pandemic; Retail investors; Robinhood; SARS-CoV-2; Tail risk;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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