Lukas Vöing

 School of Business and Economics | Bachelor International Business

"Unprecedentedly Irrational? The Effect of the COVID-19 Crisis on Investor Sentiment and Subsequent Stock Returns"

Lukas's elevator pitch
"The COVID-19 crisis has confronted individuals all over the world with an unprecedented situation characterized by fear and uncertainty. But how did fear-induced individuals make investment decisions in 2020? Investors whose decisions are affected by news unrelated to fundamentals are subject to irrational investor sentiment. Due to the topic’s recency at the time of writing, research on either investor sentiment or abnormal stock returns in 2020 was scarce and solely focused on one country, period, or industry. This thesis utilizes and compiles these inputs and introduces a conceptual framework to demonstrate how investor sentiment mediates in the relationship between key events during the pandemic and subsequent (abnormal) stock returns."