Is Proprietary Trading Detrimental to Retail Investors?

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Finance
Year: 2018
Volume: 73
Issue: 3
Pages: 1323-1361

Authors (3)

FALKO FECHT (Frankfurt School of Finance) ANDREAS HACKETHAL (not in RePEc) YIGITCAN KARABULUT (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We study the conflict of interest that arises when a universal bank conducts proprietary trading alongside its retail banking services. Our data set contains the stock holdings of every German bank and those of their corresponding retail clients. We investigate (i) whether banks sell stocks from their proprietary portfolios to their retail customers, (ii) whether those stocks subsequently underperform, and (iii) whether retail customers of banks engaging in proprietary trading earn lower portfolio returns than their peers. We present affirmative evidence for all three questions and conclude that proprietary trading can, in fact, be detrimental to retail investors.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:bla:jfinan:v:73:y:2018:i:3:p:1323-1361
Journal Field
Finance
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25