Research summary

Investors “shop local” for stocks, but should they?

November 10, 2022

Why do investors exhibit a local bias?
What does local bias mean for investor portfolios?
Exposure to smaller-cap and value-style stocks with lower levels of concentration can be obtained with diversified funds
Bar chart shows the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) for four equity indexes and our sample of investors for 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. In general, it shows that the HHI for investors is consistently substantially higher relative to the HHI of the four equity indexes.  Small-cap value is 20.4, 20.7, 18.9, and 20.2, respectively. Small-cap blend is 12.0, 12.5, 12.5, and 11.8, respectively.  Mid-cap value is 61.1, 64.9, 63.0, and 62.7, respectively.  Mid-cap blend is 35.3, 36.8, 37.3, and 36.0, respectively.  Investor sample is 5,690, 5,775, 5,492, and 5,516, respectively.
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