Understanding heuristics-based financial decision-making using behavioral portfolio strategies
ISSN: 1940-5979
Article publication date: 19 November 2021
Issue publication date: 14 March 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Through a portfolio choice model, the study empirically examines the influence of the heuristic simplification through peak-end rule (PER) and the associated neglect of the duration of the experience. The portfolio strategy adopted involves optimizing portfolios to capture the impact of heuristic-driven investors' experience of good and bad states. The study attempts to validate PER in an empirical context and is expected to generate trading rules, which would exploit pricing errors emerging out of the use of heuristics by investors.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical approach adopted in the study primarily examines returns to portfolios sorted according to various hedonic evaluation rules. Behavioral portfolios are constructed using hedonic experiences as conditioning variables.
Findings
The results imply that there is continued investor demand for such assets in the short run. An equal weight portfolio based on a three-month hedonic evaluation earns an average monthly return of 2.77% over the next 12 months.
Originality/value
The authors’ study may perhaps be the first attempt to use the peak-end heuristic in portfolio construction.
Keywords
Citation
Quddus, K. and Banerjee, A. (2023), "Understanding heuristics-based financial decision-making using behavioral portfolio strategies", Review of Behavioral Finance, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 121-137. https://doi.org/10.1108/RBF-05-2021-0092
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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