Excellence in financial advisory services

INAUGURAL DISSERTATION to obtain the academic degree doctor rerum politicarum. - The field of household finance which explores the investment behavior of individual investors has recently got into the spotlight of empirical finance research. Based on four independent empirical studies, this thesis contributes to the field of household finance by focusing on the role of professional financial advice. In particular, the author quantifies the welfare cost of home bias and discusses the potential implications for stock market participation. Moreover, the author analyzes the influence of financial advice on the asset allocation of individual investors’ portfolios and designs a superior financial advisory process tailored to investors’ needs based on their financial sophistication. In the light of the new MiFID regulation, the author finally analyzes the effect of customer-orientation on the service profit chain of financial service providers. Results of all studies are equally relevant for researchers, regulators, and bank managers.