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Client involvement in expert advice: Antibiotics in finance?

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  • Hackethal, Andreas
  • Laudenbach, Christine
  • Meyer, Steffen
  • Weber, Annika

Abstract

We use minutes from 17,000 financial advisory sessions and corresponding client portfolio data to study how client involvement affects advisor recommendations and portfolio outcomes. We find that advisors confronted with acquiescent clients stick to standards and recommend expensive but well diversified mutual fund portfolios. However, if advisors meet with clients who voice own ideas they deviate markedly from their standards, resulting in poorer portfolio diversification and lower Sharpe ratios. Our findings that advisors cater to client requests parallel the phenomenon of doctors prescribing antibiotics to insistent patients even if inappropriate, and imply that pandering diminishes the quality of advice.

Suggested Citation

  • Hackethal, Andreas & Laudenbach, Christine & Meyer, Steffen & Weber, Annika, 2018. "Client involvement in expert advice: Antibiotics in finance?," SAFE Working Paper Series 219, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:safewp:219
    DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3178664
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Philippe d'Astous & Irina Gemmo & Pierre-Carl Michaud, 2022. "The Quality of Financial Advice: What Influences Client Recommendations?," Cahiers de recherche / Working Papers 9, Institut sur la retraite et l'épargne / Retirement and Savings Institute.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    financial advice; individual investors; client involvement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

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