Ranking Stock Selection Criteria From the Perspective of Institutional Investors (Network Analysis Approach)

Institutional investors in capital markets have the greatest amount of capital and expertise. Both of these features have led them to look into the companies'' stocks differently from other investors. According to Iran''s capital market regulations، institutional investors are including several groups such as mutual funds، capital providing companies and investment firms. This article considers stock selection criteria of such institutional investors. The literature of stock selection criteria provides 18 different criteria. According to interviews، 9 criteria as «special criteria of institutional investors'' are added to the list. Then، using statistical and analytic network process (ANP) we begin the validating and ranking the stock selection criteria. The results indicate that institutional investors do not use all stock selection criteria، and only eight stock selection criteria are approved. Institutions investors consider firm''s specific، institutional investors specific، specific industry and macroeconomic criteria as most important stock selection criteria.