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Opportunistic Insider Trading During the COVID‐19 Pandemic

Bijoy Chandra Das

Financial Markets, Institutions and Instruments2025https://doi.org/10.1111/fmii.12213article
AJG 3ABDC A
Weight
0.37

Abstract

This paper examines whether opportunistic or routine insiders in US markets engage in informed trading and earn higher short‐term returns during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Our findings indicate that trades by opportunistic insiders are indeed informative, yielding higher returns compared to those of routine insiders during the pandemic. Interestingly, we also observe that opportunistic directors earn higher returns than CEOs. Additionally, opportunistic insiders trading in the Nasdaq market achieve higher returns compared to those in the NYSE, and opportunistic insiders in the financial sector outperform those in the non‐financial sector. Our results remain robust across various model specifications, alternative measures and considerations for endogeneity. Overall, our findings suggest that opportunistic insiders possess a significant informational advantage, enabling them to engage in informed trading during the pandemic.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/fmii.12213

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@article{bijoy2025,
  title        = {{Opportunistic Insider Trading During the COVID‐19 Pandemic}},
  author       = {Bijoy Chandra Das},
  journal      = {Financial Markets, Institutions and Instruments},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/fmii.12213},
}

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

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