Analyst Incentives and Stock Return Synchronicity: Evidence from MiFID II

Abstract

Implemented in 2018, MiFID II changed sell-side analyst incentives in Europe, forcing analysts to justify the value they add. While the number of analysts decreases, the average stock return synchronicity with the market also decreases, implying an improvement in price informativeness. The decrease in synchronicity is larger for firms that are more important for the analysts and brokers covering them. It is also asymmetric and substantially larger for downside market movements. Our results suggest that, by changing incentives, MiFID II not only improves the quality of individual analyst work, but also achieves an improvement in the aggregate stock price informativeness.

Keywords: stock return synchronicity, price informativeness, sell-side analysts, MiFID II

JEL Classification: G14, G15, G18, G24