IQ from IP: Simplifying Search in Portfolio Choice
56 Pages Posted: 18 Sep 2017 Last revised: 20 Apr 2019
There are 2 versions of this paper
IQ from IP: Simplifying Search in Portfolio Choice
IQ from Ip: Simplifying Search in Portfolio Choice
Abstract
Using a novel database that tracks web traffic on the SEC’s EDGAR server between 2004 and 2015, we show that institutional investors gather information on a very particular subset of firms and insiders, and their surveillance is very persistent over time. This tracking behavior has powerful implications for their portfolio choice, and its information content. An institution that downloaded an insider-trading filing by a given firm last quarter increases its likelihood of downloading an insider-trading filing on the same firm by more than 41.3% this quarter. Moreover, the average tracked stock that an institution buys generates annualized alphas of over 12% relative to the purchase of an average non-tracked stock. We find that institutional managers tend to track members of the top management teams of firms (CEOs, CFOs, Presidents, and Board Chairs), and tend to share educational and location-based commonalities with the specific insiders they choose to follow. Collectively, our results suggest that the information in tracked trades is important for fundamental firm value and is only revealed following the information-rich dual trading by insiders and linked institutions.
Keywords: Tracked trades, Return predictability, Institutional trading, Insider trading
JEL Classification: G11, G14, G23
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation