Investors' emotional impulses, herd mentality and excessive self-confidence significantly influence stock-market behaviour, said Prof. Avanidhar Subrahmanyam (UCLA Anderson School of Management) at ICFMCF 2026, IIT Madras. Delivering a special address, he presented findings from a study tracking the trading and asset-allocation decisions of nearly 500 U.S. retail investors, drawing on U.S. market data spanning 1977 to 2024, and noted that similar behavioural patterns — overconfidence, familiarity bias and sentiment-driven trading — can be observed influencing retail investor decisions in markets such as India's. Also present were Prof. M. Thenmozhi (Conference Convenor), Prof. Anil Kumar Sharma (IIT Kanpur), and IIT Madras faculty Prof. Ashwini Mahalingam (Organising Chair), Prof. S. Subhash (Humanities and Social Sciences) and Prof. Anup Kumar Pandari (Finance). Prof. Thenmozhi welcomed the gathering; Prof. Mahalingam proposed the vote of thanks.
Translated summary from the original Tamil-language report. Not a certified/literal translation.