Institutional investing refers to the investment activities of large organizations, such as pension funds, mutual funds, insurance companies, and investment banks. These institutions manage the assets of millions of individual investors, as well as their own assets, and invest them in a variety of financial instruments and asset classes.
Institutional investors have a number of advantages over individual investors. They typically have access to more sophisticated research and analysis, as well as the ability to make larger, more diversified investments. They also have professional investment managers who are responsible for making investment decisions on behalf of the institution and its investors.
There are several types of institutional investors, each with their own investment objectives and strategies.
Institutional investors typically have a long-term investment horizon and may be more willing to take on risk in order to achieve their investment objectives. They also have the resources to conduct extensive research and analysis, and may use a variety of investment strategies, including active management, passive management, and quantitative analysis.
Different Types of Institutional Investors
An institutional investor is an entity that buys and sells securities using money from multiple sources. Accordingly, institutional investors can be categorized into five types.
These are:
- Mutual Funds
Amongst domestic institutional investors it has the most popularity. The use of mutual funds, which pool the capital of numerous participants, both individual and institutional, allows for investment in a wide range of securities.
In other words, many different entities pool their cash and invest them in a collection of securities known as mutual funds. Each MF is managed by qualified fund managers.
As a result, people with little knowledge of the workings of the stock market can mobilize their disposable money using this tool. Almost all mutual funds contain a variety of liquid securities. Members can thus withdraw their investment at any moment.
Additionally, the securities purchased through MFs often cover a range of sectors or asset classes. It is intended to reduce the risk of capital loss by reducing losses in one type of security by gains in another.
- Hedge Funds
Hedge funds are another well-liked tool by institutional traders. The best way to define it is as an investment partnership where members’ contributions are pooled to buy securities. A fund management, referred to as the general partner, and a plethora of investors, referred to as limited partners, are present.
Its traits are relatively similar to those of mutual funds in that they aim to lower risk and increase returns through a varied portfolio.
Hedge funds, as opposed to MFs, set themselves apart with more aggressive investment policies and are also more exclusive. They are therefore considered to be risky as well. Naturally, the profits are significantly greater in this case.
- Insurance companies
Institutional investors with hefty holdings include insurance companies. These organisations invest the premium that policyholders pay in securities. Since the total amount of premiums is large, so are their investments. Insurance firms use the trading profits they make to cover claims.
- Peer to peer investing
Institutional investors in India are turning to peer-to-peer (P2P) lending as a way to diversify their investments.
The P2P lending market is growing at a rapid pace, and institutional investors are finally catching on. In the past two years, the number of institutional investors has grown from 20% to 40%. Institutional investors are interested in P2P because they can diversify their investments and invest in riskier assets.
- Endowment funds
Foundations create endowment money, which are used for their causes by the administrative or executive body. These funds are typically established by educational institutions, healthcare facilities, philanthropic organizations, etc.
In this situation, the investment typically serves as the investor’s tax deduction. The controlling organization uses the investment income from these funds to fund its operations while the principal is preserved.
- Pension Funds
Another well-liked category of institutional investors is pension funds. Pension funds are open to both company and employee investment. A variety of securities are purchased using the collected funds.
Two different types of pension funds exist:
* Where the pensioner receives a fixed sum irrespective of the fund fares
* Where the pensioner receives returns based on the performance of the fund
Commercial banks are also regarded as institutional investors in addition to these five categories.
What are the merits of Institutional Investors?
First of all, institutional investors frequently give advice, connections, and other forms of help (smart money) to the businesses seeking funding in addition to financial support. Additionally, they let retail investors to participate in capital markets, generating returns that are superior to those offered by bank deposits, while also reducing risk exposure and the requirement for them to develop financial market experience. As a result of the money being handled by fund professionals performing better, there are improved opportunities to save money as well as much bigger chances of earning an income.
You should focus more on institutional investors if you’re searching for fresh fundraising possibilities. There are a number of causes behind that.
- First, if they sense enough potential and opportunities, they might invest early in the project’s development.
- Second, they consistently purchase more assets than a typical retail investor would. One investor may potentially cover the project’s soft cap in this fashion.
- Third, since you interact with the representatives of the entire business, you do not need to win the trust of each investor one at a time.
What are the demerits of Institutional Investors?
Working with institutional investors may seem alluring, but there are some definite obstacles to overcome.
You should be aware that because there are larger sums of money at risk, it will be considerably tougher to win an institutional investor’s trust. To gain their attention, you must present a favorable risk/return profile. Additionally, the majority of the organizations govern your company because they own shares in it. Reducing the level of influence over the company or the ownership stake offered to them is therefore another difficulty.
Conclusion
Despite a static percentage of total financial assets over the past ten years, institutional investing continue to play a significant role in the investment industry and have a significant impact on all markets and asset classes.
