How Institutional Investors Frame Their Losses: Evidence on Dynamic Loss Aversion from Currency Portfolios

Currency investors exhibit a tendency to cut risk by pairing both longs and shorts following losses and a weaker tendency to add risk following gains. By differentiating between position level, portfolio level and aggregate cross-portfolio losses in currency investments we demonstrate that this dynamic loss aversion spans multiple frames of reference. Losses are not compartmentalized; rather a loss in one currency may impact trading in another. We also show that while the impact of a loss on subsequent trading decisions does linger, the affect declines sharply after a losing position is closed.