The economic geography of institutional investment in the United States, 2010

The economic geography of United States’ institutional investments as of December 2010 is presented. With a self-declared value of almost $13 trillion, it is the largest class of equity investors. Included are all investors who file Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) form 13f, meaning they manage at least $100 million. Analysis is undertaken at both the firm and metropolitan levels. The largest firms and targets of investment are determined. Geographic concentrations of both investors and their major stock holdings occur in a small subset (the top 10 largest metropolitan areas). The rates of returns on investments are shown to differ by metropolitan area of investment and by urban rank in the urban hierarchy. Intra-metropolitan investment provides worse rates of returns, countering suggestions of informational advantages for local investment. The network of interurban investments shows a clear hierarchical structure, with New York City being the dominant investment centre.