Can Institutional Investors Cherry-Pick Hot IPOs?
April 1, 2013 Leave a comment
Can Institutional Investors Cherry-Pick Hot IPOs?
Ufuk Gucbilmez University of Edinburgh – Business School
March 20, 2013
Abstract:
Using a unique set of bookbuilding data, we provide comprehensive tests of Rock’s (1986) theory of IPO underpricing. In particular, we examine whether uninformed and informed investors coexist in the IPO market. We find that alongside uninformed institutional investors who regularly participate in the IPO market, there exist informed ones who can avoid cold issues and cherry-pick the hot ones to appropriate higher average initial returns. Finally, the results tie together competing explanations of positive IPO initial returns based on the winner’s curse and the investor sentiment.