1.1. Why do some companies have more institutional shareholdings and less individual holdings than other companies? As described in the text, buying shares of stock in a company provides households a share of the company’s future profits in return for the capital invested.

For years individual shareholders have had brokers acting on their behalf and with low-cost brokerage firms increasing in numbers more people have begun trading through brokers. This has resulted in an increase in the number of day traders—individuals who buy and sell financial instruments within the same trading day. But, in terms of value, the bulk of the stock in the Malaysia is held by households through institutions, pension funds, insurance companies, and mutual funds.