How Behavioural Biases Affect Finance Professionals

Abstract

Financial and investment professionals along with their clients reveal a wide array of psychological biases that can result in flawed judgments and decisions. Understanding these biases is important for these professionals to ensure their clients are receiving the best advice and information. The authors describe some common behavioral biases among financial planners, financial advisors, portfolio managers, financial analysts, and institutional investors. The article draws on some themes from the authors’ book Financial Behavior – Players, Services, Products, and Markets published by Oxford University Press in 2017.

Keywords: Investor psychology, personal finance, financial planning, trading and investing strategies, biases, investment theory, behavioral finance, behavioural finance, behavioral economics

JEL Classification: A12, D81, G00, G30, G10, M00, M10, M41