The influence of behavioral aspects on individual portfolio investment decision and performance: a case study of virtual capital beneficiaries in DSE

Individual investors are influenced by various behaviors while making investment decision. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of behavioral aspects on individual portfolio investment decision and performance in Dar es Salaam Stock of Exchange. The study adopted descriptive research design. Questionnaires comprising closed and open-ended questions were applied. To reach a sample size of 100 participants stratified simple random sampling was used. To analyze data Confirmatory factor analysis and Man-Whitney U test statistical tools were used as much as IBM SPSS version 22. Confirmatory factor analysis for three models confirmed that the models do not fit well, though there is significant improvement in model after first modification and much improvement in a model after second modification. The U test revealed that best performers have significant greater differences in the level of confidence, herding following others, fear of risk, alternative investment area/depositing i.e. banks, the level of past return on investments and past trends of stocks more than least performers. On the contrary, the test confirmed that least performers have significant greater differences in respondent’s course of study, gambler's fallacy, anchoring and capital for investment provided. Furthermore, the study results showed that age, gender, fundamental of underlying portfolios investments and number of listed company in the market were independent of being either best or least performers.