We are delighted to welcome you to Quantess’s January 2021 seminar with Marie Brière. The seminar will take place online on January 14th at 6.30pm. To book yourself a place at the event, please register at the following link.

Marie will be presenting her paper, titled “Personal Values, Responsible Investing and Stock Allocation,” and co-authored with S. Ramelli.

Abstract

We analyze the portfolio choices of approximately 965,500 active participants in employee saving plans in France. Looking at the cross-section of equity exposure, we find that the inclusion of responsible equity options in the menu of available funds is associated with a 2.2% higher equity allocation by plan participants. Difference-in-differences analyses confirm that the introduction of a responsible equity option to a saving plan is followed by an increase of 6.8% in participants’ appetite for stocks, contrary to what happens with conventional equity funds. We discuss the role of personal values in explaining this phenomenon and how responsible investment products may reduce the cultural gaps preventing many retail investors from more actively participating in financial markets.

Bio

Marie Brière, PhD, is Head of the Investor Research Center at Amundi, an affiliate professor at Paris Dauphine University and an associate researcher with the Centre Emile Bernheim, Solvay Business School, Université Libre de Bruxelles. She conducts research on long term asset allocation and risk management, with the goal to advise strategic decisions of institutional investors and the design of investment solutions for individual investors. A number of her scientific articles have been published in academic journals, including Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of International Money and Finance, Journal of Portfolio Management, Financial Analyst Journal. She received the Markowitz award for her article with Zvi Bodie on “”Sovereign Wealth and Risk Management: A Framework for Optimal Asset Allocation of Sovereign Wealth”, published in the Journal of Investment Management. She holds a PhD in economics from the University Paris X and graduated from ENSAE.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Best wishes,

Quantess London