Determinants of an Investor's Decision in Unit Trust Investment

Authors

  • Qurban Ali Research Scholar, Karachi University Business School, University of Karachi, Pakistan
  • Muhammad Muzammil Assistant Professor, Karachi University Business School, University of Karachi, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63544/jbii.v5i7.113

Keywords:

Mutual Fund, Unit Trust, Risk Behaviour, Investment Revenue, Interest Rates, Past Investment Behaviour, Age, Income

Abstract

A unit trust is an easy method to invest and a wise strategy to increase one's wealth over the short, medium, and long terms. Investment professionals will oversee the investments and carefully diversify the risks. The fundamental characteristic of a unit trust is that it has lower returns than other financial products due to its low level of risks. The elements that affect an investor's choice to invest in unit trusts are not sufficiently investigated empirically in the literature. The goal of this study is to examine the variables that affect a potential investor's choice to invest in a unit trust. By positing that factors such as risk-taking behaviour, investment revenue, interest rates, prior investing behaviour, age, and income have statistically significant effects on an investor's choice to invest in unit trusts, the paper tries to close this research gap. The empirical study employs a quantitative research methodology, and survey data from 110 participants were selected as a sample using a practical sampling procedure. This cross-sectional study employs primary data for its analysis. Multiple regression analysis has been used in the data analysis. The results of this study will have a significant impact on both investors and financial institutions. This study aids brokers and fund managers in their understanding of how an individual investor reacts to a unit trust.

References

Abul, S. J. (2019). Factors influencing individual investor behaviour: Evidence from the Kuwait Stock Exchange. Asian Social Science, 15(3), 27–41. https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v15n3p27

Ajzen, I. (1985). From intentions to actions: A theory of planned behavior. In J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann (Eds.), Action control (pp. 11–39). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-69746-3_2

Ajzen, I. (1987). Attitudes, traits, and actions: Dispositional prediction of behavior in personality and social psychology. In Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 20, pp. 1–63). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60411-6

Aregbeyen, O., & Ogochukwu, S. (2011). Factors influencing investors decisions in shares of quoted companies in Nigeria. The Social Sciences, 6(3), 205–212. https://doi.org/10.3923/sscience.2011.205.212

Aysan, A., & Pang, G. (2005). How to boost private investment in the MENA countries: The role of economic reforms (Working Paper). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1139113

Barnea, A., Cronqvist, H., & Siegel, S. (2010). Nature or nurture: What determines investor behavior? Journal of Financial Economics, 98(3), 583–604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2010.08.001

Chandra, A. (2008). Individual investors' trading behavior and the competence effect [Working paper]. Indian Institute of Management.

Conner, M. (Ed.). (2009). Predicting health behaviour: Research and practice with social cognition models (2nd ed.). Open University Press.

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.

De Bondt, W. F. M., & Thaler, R. H. (1987). Further evidence on investor overreaction and stock market seasonality. The Journal of Finance, 42(3), 557–581. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1987.tb04569.x

Dhar, R., & Zhu, N. (2006). Up close and personal: Investor sophistication and the disposition effect. Management Science, 52(5), 726–740. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1040.0473

Grable, J., Lytton, R., & O'Neill, B. (2004). Projection bias and financial risk tolerance. Journal of Behavioral Finance, 5(3), 142–147. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15427579jpfm0503_2

Greene, J., & Villanueva, D. (1991). Private investment in developing countries: An empirical analysis. Staff Papers - International Monetary Fund, 38(1), 33–58. https://doi.org/10.2307/3867034

Hayward, M. L. A., Shepherd, D. A., & Griffin, D. (2006). A hubris theory of entrepreneurship. Management Science, 52(2), 160–172. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1050.0483

Hyder, K., & Masood Ahmed, Q. (2004). Why private investment in Pakistan has collapsed and how it can be restored. The Lahore Journal of Economics, 9(1), 107–125. https://doi.org/10.35536/lje.2004.v9.i1.a5

Islamoğlu, M., Apan, M., & Ayvali, A. (2015). Determination of factors affecting individual investor behaviours: A study on bankers. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 5(2), 531–543.

Khan, F. (2015). Factors influencing investors' decisions in stock market investment in Bangladesh: A study on Khulna City. Journal of Finance and Accounting, 3(6), 198–204. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfa.20150306.14

Kidwell, B., & Jewell, R. D. (2008). The influence of past behavior on behavioral intent: An information-processing explanation. Psychology and Marketing, 25(12), 1151–1166. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20258

Larsen, J. E. (2005). The impact of loan rates on direct real estate investment holding period return. Financial Services Review, 14(2), 111–123.

Leon, F. M., & Aprilia, A. (2018). Study on financial risk towards individual investor as strategy to improve urban community empowerment. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 106, 012097. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/106/1/012097

Loewenstein, G. (2000). Emotions in economic theory and economic behavior. American Economic Review, 90(2), 426–432. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.90.2.426

Lusardi, A., & Mitchell, O. S. (2014). The economic importance of financial literacy: Theory and evidence. Journal of Economic Literature, 52(1), 5–44. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.52.1.5

Mak, M. K., & Ip, W. (2017). An exploratory study of investment behaviour of investors. International Journal of Engineering Business Management, 9, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/1847979017711520

Maxfield, S., Shapiro, M., Gupta, V., & Hass, S. (2010). Gender and risk: Women, risk taking and risk aversion. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 25(7), 586–604. https://doi.org/10.1108/17542411011081383

Merikas, A. A., Merikas, A. G., Vozikis, G. S., & Prasad, D. (2011). Economic factors and individual investor behavior: The case of the Greek stock exchange. Journal of Applied Business Research, 20(4), 93–103. https://doi.org/10.19030/jabr.v20i4.2227

Mohammad Reza Tavakoli Baghdadabad. (2011). A study on small investors' behavior in choosing stock case study: Kuala-Lumpur stock market. African Journal of Business Management, 5(27), 11082–11094. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJBM11.832

Ngun, T. C., Ghahramani, N., Sánchez, F. J., Bocklandt, S., & Vilain, E. (2011). The genetics of sex differences in brain and behavior. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 32(2), 227–246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2010.10.001

Obamuyi, T. M. (2013). Factors influencing investment decisions in capital market: A study of individual investors in Nigeria. Organizations and Markets in Emerging Economies, 4(1), 141–161. https://doi.org/10.15388/omee.2013.4.1.14263

Pak, O., & Mahmood, M. (2015). Impact of personality on risk tolerance and investment decisions: A study on potential investors of Kazakhstan. International Journal of Commerce and Management, 25(4), 370–384. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCoMA-01-2013-0002

Pallant, J. (2016). SPSS survival manual (6th ed.). Open University Press.

Rana, H. M., Khan, J., & Baig, A. A. (2014). Information searches as a mediator between income and risky decision-making behavior and influence of education on risky decision-making behavior: A study from Pakistan. Management Review, 4(3), 11–22.

Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2009). Research methods for business: A skill building approach (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

Shafee, N. B., & Suhaimi, S. (2012). Investment decision on mutual fund in Malaysia [Unpublished manuscript]. Universiti Utara Malaysia.

Suyuan, L., & Khurshid, A. (2015). The effect of interest rate on investment; Empirical evidence of Jiangsu Province, China. Journal of International Studies, 8(1), 81–90. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-8330.2015/8-1/7

Tan, L., Chiang, T. C., Mason, J. R., & Nelling, E. (2008). Herding behavior in Chinese stock markets: An examination of A and B shares. Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, 16(1–2), 61–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pacfin.2007.04.004

Thaler, R. H. (2015). Misbehaving: The making of behavioral economics. W. W. Norton & Company.

Trang, P. T. M., & Tho, N. H. (2017). Perceived risk, investment performance and intentions in emerging stock markets. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 7(1), 123–130.

Tversky, A., & Kahneman, D. (1974). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science, 185(4157), 1124–1131.

van Raaij, W. F. (2016). Understanding consumer financial behavior. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137544254

Wang, D. H. M., & Yu, T. H. K. (2007). The role of interest rate in investment decisions: A fuzzy logic framework. Global Business and Economics Review, 9(4), 448–460. https://doi.org/10.1504/GBER.2007.015105

Wang, H. N., & Hanna, S. D. (1998). Does risk tolerance decrease with age? [Working paper]. Social Science Research Network. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.95489

Waweru, N. M., Munyoki, E., & Uliana, E. (2008). The effects of behavioural factors in investment decision-making: A survey of institutional investors operating at the Nairobi Stock Exchange. International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets, 1(1), 24–41. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBEM.2008.019243

Wood, W., Tam, L., & Witt, M. G. (2005). Changing circumstances, disrupting habits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(6), 918–933. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.88.6.918

Wright, J. (2016). To what extent does income predict an individual's risk profile in the UK (2012-2014) [Unpublished master's thesis]. University of Kent.

Zhuo, S. (2015). Analysis on investment behavior of agricultural sector in China. Journal of Northeast Agricultural University (English Edition), 22(4), 69–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1006-8104(16)30021-6

Author Biographies

Qurban Ali, Research Scholar, Karachi University Business School, University of Karachi, Pakistan

Muhammad Muzammil, Assistant Professor, Karachi University Business School, University of Karachi, Pakistan

Downloads

Published

2026-07-25

How to Cite

Ali, Q., & Muzammil, M. (2026). Determinants of an Investor’s Decision in Unit Trust Investment. Journal of Business Insight and Innovation, 5(7), 335–358. https://doi.org/10.63544/jbii.v5i7.113

Similar Articles

<< < 4 5 6 7 8 9 

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.