Quantitative Easing and Portfolio Rebalancing: A Survey of the Empirical Literature

This paper gives an overview about selected empirical papers dealing with the relationship between quantitative easing (QE) and the portfolio choice of banks, other institutional investors, and households. Overall, the reviewed literature reaches three main conclusions. First, investors rebalance away from QE-targeted assets (bonds) into non-targeted bonds, housing, and loans (for banks). Second, investors also reallocate away from the domestic to the foreign market. Third, QE-induced portfolio rebalancing is not restricted to sophisticated institutional investors, but is also prevalent among households.