Recent data shows that investment portfolios are strongly biased to certain sectors based on where investors live.
Is the West Coast overexposed towards tech stocks? What about energy in the Southeast?
See who buys what in today’s infographic.
For investors, there’s no place like home. Data shows that investors are heavily sector-biased based on where they live.
Openfolio.com, a platform tracking the performance and activity of 40,000 investors, calculated the overall popularity for the top 2,000 stocks and funds owned by its users in the United States. The data was then segmented based on sector and geography.
The results are clear: the West Coast of the United States loads up on tech stocks and the Northeast loves financials more than anyone else. The states along the Gulf of Mexico buy more energy stocks, and states in the Midwest are more likely to own industrials. Interestingly enough, the most balanced sector was healthcare, which all geographic regions seemed to own equally.
The real question is: what kind of returns did investors get? Over the course of 2014, the average investor on the West Coast led the pack with a 5.9% performance. The Midwest averaged 4.7% and the Northeast got 4.5% returns. The Southeast, which has a bias towards energy stocks, was likely hard hit by the oil price crash with the lowest average of 3.1%.
Familiarity with sectors and industries plays a big role, and it makes sense. People exposed to the technology sector in places like Silicon Valley and Seattle are more likely to feel comfortable investing in tech-related equities. While it is a good thing to invest in areas where one feels comfortable, it can also create asset allocation and risk problems. This is why it is important for investors to know their biases and to manage their portfolios accordingly.
