Institutional investors are in a tight spot because of the way...

Institutional investors are in a tight spot because of the way the market works. If you are a retail investor you can pick the companies you like and just hold, but if you are an institutional investor you need to worry about your relative performance compared to your peers. If you are investing other people’s money then it is better to be wrong with everyone else, rather than right on your own. Have a bad quarter or two when everyone else in the industry is struggling then you can blame the macro environment, have a bad quarter when everyone makes money and you will be looking for a new job. Institutional investment structurally encourages herd behaviour and group think. All the institutional investors know this, but they really struggle to break out of this bind.

Assuming everyone reading this is a retail investor, the best companies to invest in are those in which the “herd” has not yet invested in but will in the future. Once the “herd” decides that a company is “hot” you will be in for a wild ride.