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Will investors change their superannuation fund given the choice?
Author(s) -
Fry Tim,
Heaney Richard,
McKeown Warren
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
accounting and finance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.645
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-629X
pISSN - 0810-5391
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-629x.2006.00203.x
Subject(s) - status quo , status quo bias , business , loss aversion , sample (material) , economics , institutional investor , actuarial science , finance , corporate governance , market economy , chemistry , chromatography
A large number of Australian investors have been granted the right to choose where their superannuation fund contributions will be invested, but it is difficult to ascertain whether investors will exercise this choice. Although expected‐utility‐maximizing investors might tend to change their fund once given the choice, loss averse investors would favour the status quo. Using a survey of over 1600 Australian investors, conducted by FinaMetrica in early 2005, we find support for inertia (status quo) in our sample suggesting that, with respect to superannuation choice, individual Australian investors are loss averse.