Institutional Investor Attention

Abstract

Using data on Internet news reading, we measure fund-level attention to both aggregate and firm-specific news and relate it to fund portfolio allocation decisions. In the time series, we find that funds shift attention toward macroeconomic news during periods of high aggregate volatility. Those funds that exhibit stronger attention-reallocation patterns earn higher future returns. In the cross-section of fund portfolios, fund attention is positively related to stock holdings. Furthermore, fund attention to a stock increases the value-add of that position to the fund's performance. This relationship is stronger using fund attention to more value-relevant news articles.