Investor sentiment and the risk–return relation: A two-in-one approach

Traditional finance theory posits a positive risk–return relation, but empirical evidence is inconclusive. Retail investor sentiment has long been viewed as a distorting factor, while more recently institutional investor sentiment is thought to play a role. We examine the separate and joint impacts of retail and institutional investor sentiments on the risk-return relation. We find, at both market and firm levels, the risk-return relation is more likely to be distorted by the two investor-type sentiments jointly, rather than separately. We further find a cross-sectional pattern, with the risk-return relation being more sensitive to investor sentiment for stocks with specific characteristics.