By: |
Marco Di Maggio (Harvard Business School and National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER));
Francesco A. Franzoni (University of Lugano and Swiss Finance Institute);
Amir Kermani (University of California and National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER));
Carlo Sommavilla (University of Lugano and Swiss Finance Institute) |
Abstract: |
This paper shows that the network of relationships between brokers and
institutional investors shapes the information diffusion in the stock market.
We exploit trade-level data to show that trades channeled through central
brokers earn significantly positive abnormal returns. This result is not due
to differences in the investors that trade through central brokers or to
stocks characteristics, as we control for this heterogeneity; nor is it the
result of better trading execution. We find that a key driver of these excess
returns is the information that central brokers gather by executing informed
trades, which is then leaked to their best clients. We show that after large
informed trades, a significantly higher volume of other investors execute
similar trades through the same central broker, allowing them to capture
higher returns in the first few days after the initial trade. The best clients
of the broker executing the informed trade, and the asset managers affiliated
with the broker, are among the first to benefit from the information about
order flow. This evidence also suggests that an important source of alpha for
fund managers is the access to better connections rather than superior skill. |
Keywords: |
broker networks, institutional investors, asset prices, information |
JEL: |
G12 G14 G24 |
Date: |
2017–02 |
URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp1708&r=mst |