International Portfolio Flows Research Articles

What leads some countries to experience larger decreases in foreign flows during low-flow episodes? Evidence from international portfolio flows

This paper investigates the drivers explaining the heterogeneous responses of foreign portfolio investors across 43 emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) during low-flow episodes. Our investigations reveal several findings: (a) During low-flow episodes, EMDEs with stronger macroeconomic/institutional fundamentals—e.g., larger foreign reserves, less public indebtedness, and better institutional quality—suffer fewer reductions in foreign inflows. (b) EMDEs with more open/developed financial markets attract more portfolio inflows during surges but suffer larger declines during stops. Hence, we provide evidence supporting the foreign investor differentiation (according to fundamentals) and the mixed blessing of financial sectors hypothesis.

Economic sentiment and foreign portfolio flows: Evidence from Türkiye

The notable surge in capital flows in recent years has emerged as a key factor shaping the dynamics of international financial markets and influencing economic performance of emerging economies. Even though macroeconomic fundamentals of an economy can explain some of the patterns in international capital flows, behavioral factors also seem to be essential for positioning capital flows across countries. In this study, we aim to examine whether overall economic sentiment towards Turkish economy plays a significant role on net portfolio flows to Türkiye. To this end, we first construct a novel text-based sentiment index called "Turkish Economic Sentiment Index (TESI)", to capture the behavioral tendencies of international investors and media towards Türkiye. Our subsequent step integrates TESI into autoregressive distributed lag models (ARDL) alongside major pull-push determinants to assess whether market sentiment holds discernible influence on capital influx into Turkey. The results reveal that the TESI and VIX stand out as pivotal determinants influencing international portfolio flows. The TESI has a positive impact on portfolio flow dynamics, whereas the degree of global risk aversion inversely affects these flows. These findings align with the contention that a favorable sentiment can boost portfolio inflows to emerging markets. Conversely, heightened volatility expectations in global markets can prompt outflows from these economies.

Chinese monetary policy spillovers on its international portfolio investment flows

This paper examines Chinese monetary policy spillovers on its international portfolio investment flows with a factor-augmented vector autoregression (FAVAR) model. The paper extracts a FPI factor from certain time series to measure monthly foreign portfolio investment flows (FPI). Four Chinese monetary policies are considered: central-bank target policy rate; required reserve ratio; M2; banks' loans. The robust and significant results show that interest rates and banks' loans have significant impact on Chinese international portfolio investment flows, while changes in reserve requirements are not effective. It reveals the increasingly important effects of Chinese monetary policies on its cross-border portfolio investment flows following decades' capital account openness and the reform of interest rate liberalization in China, which indicates that Chinese monetary policy is approaching to a market-based framework.

A Study on How International Portfolio Investment Flows Affect Macrofinancial Risks and Control Channels

In the current complex global economic background, international capital flows are becoming more frequent. Based on this, this paper takes international portfolio investment as the research object and empirically tests the causal relationship and control channel between international portfolio flows and macrofinancial risk in emerging economies. It selects the panel data of emerging economies from 2001 to 2020, constructs macrofinancial risk indicators by using contingent claim analysis and the entropy-based TOPSIS method, tests the effect of international portfolio flows on macrofinancial risk by using the panel distributed lag regression model, and explores the management effect of foreign exchange reserves and capital controls on the risk effect by using the panel threshold regression model. The results show that long-term international portfolio flows help reduce macrofinancial risk, but short-term capital flows appear to increase macrofinancial risk. In addition, both foreign exchange reserves and capital controls effectively reduce the risk effect of portfolio flows. However, when considering different types of portfolios, we find that foreign exchange reserves do not effectively control the risk effect of equity securities flows, while stricter capital controls do. This paper argues that emerging economies should be more open to international long-term portfolio flows, focus on the monitoring of short-term portfolio capital flows and equity securities flows, and coordinate the use of foreign exchange reserves and capital control instruments to manage the risk effects of portfolio flows. This paper verifies the risk effect of international portfolio investment flows through empirical analysis, tests the effectiveness of foreign exchange reserves and capital controls, and provides a decision-making reference for emerging economies to timely identify, effectively manage, and prevent the risk effect of international capital flows.

A natural level of capital flows

• KF* is a new supply-side estimate of the natural level of capital flows. • KF* is a level to which portfolio flows converge in the medium term. • KF* greatly improves our ability to model notoriously volatile capital flows. • KF* performs well against out-of-sample and in-sample filtering techniques. • The gap between actual inflows and KF* helps predict both 6-quarters ahead sudden stop episodes and medium-term equity returns. • KF* helped predict capital flows during the two largest shocks of the past few decades: the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 shock. International portfolio flows converge in the medium run to a country-specific, supply-side estimate of their natural level. Our estimate of the natural level of capital flows, KF*, has impressive out-of-sample empirical features, greatly improves our ability to model notoriously volatile capital flows and performs well against out-of-sample and in-sample filtering techniques. Further, the gap between actual inflows and KF* helps predict sudden stop episodes, equity returns, and capital flows during the two largest shocks of the past few decades: the global financial crisis and the Covid-19 shock.

The asymmetric impacts of international portfolio flows on Australian dollar returns

ABSTRACT This study investigates how equity portfolio flows affect the transition processes of exchange rate returns in Australia by employing a Markov-switching AR-GARCH-Jump model with time-varying transition probabilities. Three interesting findings are observed. Firstly, both GARCH and jump effects are totally different in the high-volatility and low-volatility states. Secondly, the net equity portfolio inflows increase exchange rate market fluctuations. Thirdly, the marginal effect of net equity flows is stronger in low-volatility state than in high-volatile state.

Portfolio flows – exchange rate volatility: is there a puzzling relationship?

PurposeThis study investigates possible shock transmission and volatility spillover effects among the exchange rate changes and international portfolio flows for United States vis-à-vis two fast-growing emerging country groups: the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey).Design/methodology/approachApplying VAR-BEKK-GARCH model, the evidence indicates that exchange rate fluctuations have a negative impact on net equity flows in Brazil, Russia, India and Turkey; thus, supporting the view that exchange rate uncertainty is an important driver of equity home bias.FindingsAs for the comparison of the pre- and post-crisis period, the findings support the evidence that the post-crisis period witnessed a greater number of cases of significant shock and volatility spillovers among exchange rate uncertainty and portfolio flows.Originality/valueOverall, the empirical results provide fresh insights and policy implications for domestic and international investors through investment activities, and for policymakers through maintaining economic and financial stability.

Determining the Interaction of the International Portfolio Flows with Exchange Rate Volatility in Developing Countries

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of the bond portfolio and equity inflows on the exchange rate dynamics for a set of developing countries, including Turkey, Hungary, New Zealand, India, Russia, Poland, Brazil and Argentina over the period 1997:01-2017:12 by using a Markov-switching model. According to the analysis results, the net bond inflows lead to an increase in the likelihood of a high volatility regime in Turkey and Russia and increases the probability of transition from the high volatility regime to the low volatility regime in Hungary. Additionally, the net bond inflows from New Zealand and Poland to the United States (US) rise the possibility of remaining in the low volatility regime. The net equity inflows from Turkey and Poland to the US lead to a rise in the possibility of remaining in the high volatility regime. Besides, the net equity inflows from Brazil and Argentina to the US lead to a decline in the possibility of remaining in the low volatility state. In the light of the empirical results supporting the return chasing hypothesis, this paper argues that credit controls on short-term financial inflows could be an effective means in stabilizing the foreign exchange market.

Sovereign Credit Ratings, Transparency and International Portfolio Flows

We examine the response of equity mutual fund flows to sovereign rating changes in a wide sample of countries during the crisis prone years from 1996-2002. We find that Sovereign downgrades are strongly associated with outflows of capital from the downgraded country while improvements in a country’s sovereign rating are not associated with discernable changes in equity flows. Transparency, as proxied by the level of corruption matters: more transparent (i.e., less corrupt) countries experience smaller outflows around downgrades. Moreover, abnormal flows around downgrades are consistent with a ‘flight to quality’ phenomenon. That is, less corrupt non-event countries are net recipients of capital inflows, and these inflows increase with the severity of the cumulative downgrade abroad. The results remain after controlling for country size, legal traditions, market liquidity, crisis versus non-crisis periods. Taken together, the results suggest that increasing transparency could mitigate some of the perceived negative effects often associated with global capital flows.

Fed policy expectations and portfolio flows to emerging markets

The empirical literature has long established that U.S. interest rates are an important driver of international portfolio flows, with lower rates “pushing” foreign capital to EMs. On this basis, it is often argued that Fed tightening is likely to weigh on EM portfolio flows in coming years. This paper offers a different interpretation of the literature and provides empirical evidence that it is mainly the surprise element of monetary policy that affects EM portfolio inflows. A shift in market expectations towards easier future U.S. monetary policy leads to greater EM portfolio inflows, while an upward shift in interest rate expectations reduces such flows.

International portfolio flows and exchange rate volatility in emerging Asian markets

This paper investigates the effects of equity and bond portfolio inflows on exchange rate volatility using monthly bilateral data for the US vis-a-vis seven Asian developing and emerging countries (India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand) over the period 1993:01–2015:11. GARCH models and Markov switching specifications with time-varying transition probabilities are estimated in addition to a benchmark linear model. The evidence suggests that high (low) exchange rate volatility is associated with equity (bond) inflows from the Asian countries toward the US in all cases, with the exception of the Philippines. Therefore, capital controls could be an effective tool to stabilise the foreign exchange market in countries where flows affect exchange rate volatility.

The Spatial Impact of Cultural Distances on Home Bias across Asian Emerging Markets

Using a set of individual country-pair data on cross-border equity transactions between seven Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Australia) in the years 2002–2012, we document that investors are more likely to show similar extent of home bias across Asian emerging markets than the developed markets. The spatial panel regression analysis indicates that the spillover effects of cultural and economic distances are more significant than the effect of geometric distance. Investors’ familiarity about Asian countries seems to influence the similar extent of home bias across Asian financial markets, while not so in the developed countries. In particular, the spatial spillover influences of risk associated with cultural and economic distances are more prominent among the Asian financial markets than the developed countries. Our home bias model can be spatially applied to not only different regions but also to different types of investors in international portfolio flows.

Interactions of International Portfolio Flows: an Empirical Study Based on Network Analysis

As the progress of economic globalization and financial integration, the interconnectedness among different economies has been increasingly strong since the 1990s. International portfolio flows are one of the most important channels for this linkage. In this research, we innovatively employ network analysis to investigate the interactions of international portfolio flows among countries. Employing the data for 55 countries from 1990Q1 to 2015Q4, we construct an International Portfolio Correlation Network and come to the following conclusions. First, large-scale emerging economies have significant correlation with other countries, such as Malaysia, India, Poland, Turkey and South Africa, whereas developed countries tend to play a role of correlation intermediaries, including Canada, Japan, France and New Zealand. These countries are systematically important countries in network and should be closely watched. Second, international portfolio correlation network has been more tightly connected after the Global Financial Crisis. Large-scale emerging markets become more and more important in the network due to their continuing opening and liberalization reform.

International portfolio flows with growth shocks

This paper investigates the impacts of level and growth rate productivity shocks on the cyclical dynamics of gross portfolio flows between two economies using an endogenous portfolio choice problem within a DSGE framework. We find that the level shocks yield procyclical gross equity flows, while the growth rate shocks produce countercyclical flows. These dynamics cannot be replicated by only employing persistent shocks to the level of productivity.

International portfolio flows in the post-global financial crisis period

International portfolio flows in the post-global financial crisis period

Macroeconomic factors and foreign portfolio investment volatility: A case of South Asian countries

Macroeconomic factors play a pivotal role in attracting foreign investment in the country. This study investigates the relationship between macroeconomic factors and foreign portfolio investment volatility in South Asian countries. The monthly data is collected for the period ranging from 2000 to 2012 for four Asian countries i.e. China, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka because monthly data is ideal for measuring portfolio investment volatility. For measuring volatility in foreign portfolio investment, GARCH (1,1) is used because shocks are responded quickly by this model. The results reveal that there exists significant relationship between macroeconomic factors and foreign portfolio investment volatility. Thus, less volatility in international portfolio flows is associated with high interest rate, currency depreciation, foreign direct investment, lower inflation, and higher GDP growth rate of the host country. Thus findings of this study suggest that foreign portfolio investors focus on stable macroeconomic environment of country.

International Portfolio Flows and Exchange Rate Volatility for Emerging Markets

This paper investigates the effects of equity and bond portfolio inflows on exchange rate volatility, using monthly bilateral data for the US vis-a-vis eight Asian developing and emerging countries (India, Indonesia, South Korea, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, and Taiwan) over the period 1993:01-2012:11, and estimating a time-varying transition probability Markov-switching model. We find that net equity (bond) inflows drive the exchange rate to a high (low) volatility state. In particular, net bond inflows increase the probability of remaining in the low volatility state in the case of Pakistan, Thailand, and the Philippines, whilst they increase the probability of staying in the high volatility state in the case of Indonesia. Finally, net equity inflows from India, Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan towards the US also increase the probability of staying in the high volatility state. These findings can be plausibly interpreted in terms of the return-chasing hypothesis and suggest that credit controls on portfolio flows could be an effective tool to stabilise the foreign exchange market.

What moves international stock and bond markets?

We study the relation between international mutual fund flows and the different return components of aggregate equity and bond markets. First, we decompose international equity and bond market returns into changes in expectations of future real cash payments, interest rates, exchange rates, and discount rates. News about future cash flows, rather than discount rates, is the main driver of international stock returns. This evidence is in contrast with the typical results reported only for the US. Inflation news instead is the main driver of international bond returns. Next, we turn to the interaction between these return components and international portfolio flows. We find evidence consistent with price pressure, short-term trend chasing, and short-run overreaction in the equity market. We also find that international bond flows to emerging markets are more sensitive to interest rate shocks than equity flows.

What Moves International Stock and Bond Markets?

We study the relation between international mutual fund flows and the different return components of aggregate equity and bond markets. First, we decompose international equity and bond market returns into changes in expectations of future real cash payments, interest rates, exchange rates, and discount rates. News about future cash flows, rather than discount rates, is the main driver of international stock returns. This evidence is in contrast with the typical results reported only for the US. Inflation news instead is the main driver of international bond returns. Next, we turn to the interaction between these return components and international portfolio flows. We find evidence consistent with price action, short-term trend chasing, and short-run overreaction in the equity market. We also find that international bond flows to emerging markets are more sensitive to interest rate shocks than equity flows.

What drives international portfolio flows?

Understanding what drives international portfolio flows has important policy implications for countries wishing to exert some control on the size, direction and volatility of the flows. This paper empirically assesses the relative contribution of common (push) and country-specific (pull) factors to the variation of bond and equity flows from the US to 55 other countries. Using a Bayesian dynamic latent factor model, we find that more than 80% of the variation in bond and equity flows is due to push factors from the US to other countries. Hence global economic forces seem to prevail over domestic economic forces in explaining movements in international portfolio flows. The dynamics of push and pull factors can be partially explained by US and foreign economic fundamentals.