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Trading on Advice

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  • Inderst, Roman
  • Hackethal, Andreas
  • Meyer, Steffen

Abstract

Why do people trade? Because they are told to! Using a unique dataset from a large German bank, we find that retail investors who report that they rely heavily on their advisors? recommendations have a substantially higher trading volume and purchase a higher fraction of investment products for which their advisors were incentivized (?promotion products?). As we have access to administrative data on the bank?s revenues from security transactions, we can show that, altogether, customers who rely strongly on advice generate more than twenty percent higher revenues. We further support our picture of ?advice-driven? trading activity by using survey evidence on the initiative and frequency of contacts between advisors and investors. Confirming the predictions of our formal model, investors rely more on advice when they perceive less of a conflict of interest and when they have a lower opinion of their own and a higher opinion of their advisors? expertise. Given that advice is ubiquitous in retail financial services, our theoretical and empirical findings should be applicable more broadly.

Suggested Citation

  • Inderst, Roman & Hackethal, Andreas & Meyer, Steffen, 2010. "Trading on Advice," CEPR Discussion Papers 8091, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8091
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    Cited by:

    1. Julie R. Agnew & Hazel Bateman & Christine Eckert & Fedor Iskhakov & Jordan Louviere & Susan Thorp, 2018. "First Impressions Matter: An Experimental Investigation of Online Financial Advice," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(1), pages 288-307, January.
    2. Inderst, Roman & Ottaviani, Marco, 2012. "How (not) to pay for advice: A framework for consumer financial protection," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(2), pages 393-411.
    3. Chalmers, John & Reuter, Jonathan, 2020. "Is conflicted investment advice better than no advice?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(2), pages 366-387.
    4. Menkhoff, Lukas & Schmeling, Maik & Schmidt, Ulrich, 2013. "Overconfidence, experience, and professionalism: An experimental study," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 92-101.
    5. Calcagno, Riccardo & Monticone, Chiara, 2015. "Financial literacy and the demand for financial advice," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 363-380.
    6. Calcagno, Riccardo & Giofré, Maela & Urzì-Brancati, Maria Cesira, 2017. "To trust is good, but to control is better: How investors discipline financial advisors’ activity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 287-316.
    7. Bellofatto, Anthony & Broihanne, Marie-Hélène & D'Hondt, Catherine, 2019. "Appetite for information and trading behavior," LIDAM Discussion Papers LFIN 2019002, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain Finance (LFIN).
    8. 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.
    9. Hermansson, Cecilia & Song, Han-Suck, 2016. "Financial advisory services meetings and their impact on saving behavior – A difference-in-difference analysis," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 131-139.
    10. Cruciani, Caterina & Gardenal, Gloria & Rigoni, Ugo, 2021. "Trust-formation processes in financial advisors: A structural equation model," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 185-199.
    11. Matthias Hunold & Johannes Muthers, 2011. "Resale Price Maintenance: Hurting Competitors, Consumers and Yourself," Working Papers 100, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    12. Litterscheidt, Rouven & Streich, David J., 2020. "Financial education and digital asset management: What's in the black box?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    13. Sprenger, Julia, 2016. "Financial literacy: A barrier to seek financial advice but not a shield against following it," Ruhr Economic Papers 634, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    14. Barthel, Anne-Christine & Lei, Shan, 2021. "Investment in financial literacy and financial advice-seeking: Substitutes or complements?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 385-396.
    15. Jünger, Moritz & Mietzner, Mark, 2020. "Banking goes digital: The adoption of FinTech services by German households," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    16. Steffen Westermann & Scott J. Niblock & Jennifer L. Harrison & Michael A. Kortt, 2020. "Financial Advice Seeking: A Review of the Barriers and Benefits," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 39(4), pages 367-388, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Financial advice; Trading;

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance

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