Financial strength information and institutional investor demand: Evidence from India

Abstract

In this paper, we examine whether foreign institutional investors (FII) and mutual funds (MF) show a higher preference for fundamentally stronger firms. We employ Pitroski’s F score and its constituents (profitability, efficiency, and leverage) to measure the fundamental strength of firms. Further, we examine the preferences of FIIs and MFs by conditioning on size and book-to-market ratio. Overall, the results indicate that both types of institutional investors prefer firms with higher expected profitability and are willing to take higher risks. FIIs show a higher preference for riskier firms and MFs prefer firms with higher profitability.