“Do individual mutual fund investors behave pro-cyclically?” - An investigation on investor behavior.

Abstract

Based on experience the client assumed that its individual mutual fund investors behave pro-cyclically, i.e. they invest or change their investment strategy "upwards" (i.e. higher equity exposure hence more aggressive behavior) when market prices rise and divest or "lower" their investment strategy (i.e. lower equity exposure thus more conservative behavior) when market prices decrease.

Since the assumption has not been proven based on relevant evidence yet, the aim of the analysis was to investigate this assumption.