Investor personality and investment performance: from the perspective of psychological traits

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to analyse the mediation effect of psychological biases, namely, financial risk tolerance (FRT) and financial overconfidence on the relationship between personality traits of individual investors and their investment performance (perceived) in the context of a developing financial market such as Indian Capital Markets. Design/methodology/approach - The study uses both quantitative and cross-sectional approach to collect response from 983 individual investors through a questionnaire. The questionnaire had segments that were designed to assess their personality traits, investment performance and psychological traits. The personality traits were assessed through Big-Five personality inventory (TIPI), the psychological traits, i.e. FRT was measured through FRT scale, whereas financial overconfidence was measured through three basic concepts, namely, over-precision, over-placement and overestimation. Investment performance was assessed through perceived investment performance measures. The collected data was then analysed through AMOS and SPSS to validate the hypothesised relationship. Findings - Findings of the study depict that personality traits of individual investors are related with their FRT, financial overconfidence and perceived investment performance. In addition, FRT and financial overconfidence are negatively related to perceived investment performance. Furthermore, mediation analysis showed that the two psychological traits were found to fully mediate the relationship between personality traits and investment performance. Research limitations/implications - There are still certain limitations of the present study. First, the questionnaire pre-testing and sampling technique allowed for only for those investors who had an experience of investment in financial markets; however, the quantification of actual investment performance for each investor was impossible, and thus the actual investment performance was not determined. Second, this study focusses on the mediating role of financial overconfidence and financial risk-taking, as such it is known that levels of financial overconfidence and risk-taking depend on many other extraneous factors such as socio-economic status and financial knowledge. Practical implications - The findings of the present study is useful for financial companies, policymakers as well as issuers of financial securities, who can keep a watch on these behaviour-related traits before issuing a security in the financial market and for the financial service providers; this study would be beneficial to design a “behavioural portfolio” according to the personality and psychological traits of their clients. Social implications - Through this study, the investors can recognise their personality traits and psychological biases and take sound and good investment decisions and can also maximise their level of overconfidence. This increased level of overconfidence will propel them further to actively and frequently participate in financial markets and make financial gains. Originality/value - The essence of this paper lies in the identification of personality traits and psychological traits of individual investors, and their relationship with investment performance. Studies such as this are less prevalent in the context of a developing country such as India. Moreover, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is first of its kind to study the meditating effect of psychological biases in the relationship between personality traits and investment performance.