different content. Therefore, according to the definitions given by scholars, it is
impossible to single out a single approach to the interpretation of the concept of
“institutional investor”, nor to specify the institutions of the financial market that relate
specifically to institutional investors. Therefore, first of all, it should be noted that
scholars, in interpreting the essence of the notion of “institutional investor”,
individually refer to this type of investors of such representatives as:
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financial intermediaries (specialized financial intermediaries; special type of
financial intermediaries);
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legal entities (enterprises, companies, organizations);
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participants in the financial market;
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portfolio investors;
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entities of collective investment;
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collective holders of shares;
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contractual savings institutions.
Thus, F. Davis and B. Style consider the institutional investors as specialized
financial institutions that manage collective savings in the interests of investors, which
is expressed in reaching an acceptable level of risk with maximum return on investment
and coherence of maturity. That is, in this definition, the concept of “collectivity” is
not only in attracting funds from investors (individuals and legal entities), but also in
the management of the funds raised as the only portfolio. Thus, the institutional
investors act as financial intermediaries whose object of the professional management
is the assets of the clients [2, p. 2]. J. Downs and J. Goodman understand an institutional
investor to mean an organization that operates with a large amount of securities (mutual
funds, banks, insurance companies, pension funds, trade union funds, as well as funds,
courses make tuition fees for colleges) [ 3, p. 229].
Consequently, most scholars propose to consider institutional investors in the
broad sense as financial intermediaries who accumulate funds from individual and
corporate investors in order to further invest in various financial assets. We can agree
with this statement, because the free flow of the financial resources and the provision
of the financial services in the financial market is carried out and provided by its
infrastructure, that is, the system of specialized institutions of the given market, the
possibility of more effective investment activity of the individual and corporate
investors in the financial market can provided by financial intermediation institutions.
However, in our opinion, it still requires a mandatory emphasis on the fact that
investment activities carried out in the financial market require specific approaches to
both the formation of investment resources and their investment. In this regard, let's
emphasize that institutional investors are not just financial intermediaries, but, as R.
Maurer points out [4], specialized financial intermediaries.
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