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We extract proxies for trader conscientiousness from plain text to explain the cross-section of individual and institutional trader performance. The literature claims conscientiousness to be a main determinant of workplace performance. We employ measures like text length, error frequency, sentence simplicity, and lexical diversity to construct a conscientiousness index. Our findings suggest that more conscientious traders outperform their peers on a risk-adjusted basis. This implies that personality affects investment decisions. Our data stems from a web-based platform that gives individuals the opportunity to set up small investment funds other users can invest in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]