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As easy as pie: How retirement savers use prescribed investment disclosures

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  • Bateman, Hazel
  • Dobrescu, Loretti I.
  • Newell, Ben R.
  • Ortmann, Andreas
  • Thorp, Susan

Abstract

Using a laboratory experiment, we study how retirement plan members choose investment options using five information items prescribed by regulators. We found that asset allocation information for pre-mixed investment options – normally presented as a pie chart or a table – had the largest impact on choices. Participants preferred investment options with more, and more evenly weighted, asset class allocations. This novel application of a 1/n strategy differs significantly from the existing findings of naïve diversification in ‘mix-it-yourself’ conditions where participants spread resources evenly across funds or categories. When asset allocation information was included, coefficients on return and risk information had unexpected signs, but when asset allocation was omitted, participants preferred options with high Sharpe ratios. We also demonstrate that none of the five prescribed information items was significant in explaining individual choices of more than 35% of participants. These findings highlight that information contained in prescribed investment disclosures might not be used in the manner intended by the regulator. The results raise important methodological questions about the way ‘user-friendly’ information prescribed by regulators is validated before being legislated.

Suggested Citation

  • Bateman, Hazel & Dobrescu, Loretti I. & Newell, Ben R. & Ortmann, Andreas & Thorp, Susan, 2016. "As easy as pie: How retirement savers use prescribed investment disclosures," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 60-76.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:121:y:2016:i:c:p:60-76
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2015.10.020
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    Cited by:

    1. Cardella, Eric & Kalenkoski, Charlene M. & Parent, Michael, 2018. "Less Is Not More: Information Presentation Complexity and 401(k) Planning Choices," IZA Discussion Papers 11538, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Newall, Philip Warren Stirling & Parker, Katie, 2017. "Improved mutual fund investment choice architecture," OSF Preprints qknjt, Center for Open Science.
    3. Isler, Ozan & Rojas, Andres & Dulleck, Uwe, 2022. "Easy to shove, difficult to show: Effect of educative and default nudges on financial self-management," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    4. Keane, M.P. & Thorp, S., 2016. "Complex Decision Making," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 661-709, Elsevier.
    5. Geoffrey Kingston & Susan Thorp, 2019. "Superannuation in Australia: A Survey of the Literature," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 95(308), pages 141-160, March.
    6. Daugaard, Dan & Kent, Danielle & Servátka, Maroš & Zhang, Le, 2023. "Optimistic framing increases responsible investment of investment professionals," MPRA Paper 119677, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Antonia Settle, 2021. "'Don't play if you can't win': exploring household disengagement with the pension system through financial diaries data," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2021n29, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    8. Thorp, S. & Bateman, H. & Dobrescu, L.I. & Newell, B.R. & Ortmann, A., 2020. "Flicking the switch: Simplifying disclosure to improve retirement plan choices," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    9. Michael P. Keane & Susan Thorp, 2016. "Complex Decision Making: The Roles of Cognitive Limitations, Cognitive Decline and Ageing," Economics Papers 2016-W10, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    10. Chernulich, Aleksei, 2021. "Modelling reference dependence for repeated choices: A horse race between models of normalisation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    11. Robert L. McDonald & Thomas A. Rietz, 2018. "Ratings and Asset Allocation: An Experimental Analysis," NBER Working Papers 25046, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Rafal Chomik & John Piggott, 2016. "Australian Superannuation: The Current State of Play," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 49(4), pages 483-493, December.
    13. Kim, Dongwoo, 2020. "Worker retirement responses to pension incentives: Do they respond to pension wealth?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 365-385.
    14. Wang-Ly, Nathan & Bateman, Hazel & Dobrescu, Isabella & Newell, Ben R. & Thorp, Susan, 2022. "Defaults, disclosures, advice and calculators: One size does not fit all," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Consumer finance; Diversification; Heuristics; Pensions; Choice experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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