When financial advice rocks the market.

We document the impact of recommendations by a hugely influential Chilean pension advisor, H&L, on pension investments by individuals, domestic stock market outcomes, and pension fund manager investment strategies. Following H&L's retirement portfolio recommendations, pension investors shifted amounts that, in a week, often exceeded 100% of monthly domestic stock trading volume. The market believed the recommendations—domestic stock prices responded, but they did so without trade: the massive portfolio shifts did not generate abnormally-high trading volume. To accommodate H&L's impact, pension managers adjusted portfolio compositions, making them more similar, and shifted holdings of liquid assets rather than domestic stocks. • Happy and Loaded (H&L) was a massively popular pension advisor in Chile. • Followers of H&L shifted pension savings that, in a week, often exceed 100% of monthly domestic stock trading volume. • Domestic prices responded with abnormal returns the first trading day after recommendations. • Prices responded without abnormal trading volume. • Pension managers responded by altering the composition of portfolios, shifting liquid assets rather than domestic stocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]