Corporate Governance Reforms and Institutional Investor Behaviour in the Nigerian Stock Market

This study investigates the relationship between corporate governance reforms and institutional investor behaviour in the Nigerian stock market. Institutional investors, including pension funds, collective investment schemes, and insurance portfolios, hold significant stakes in listed companies and have the potential to exercise considerable governance influence. Recent governance reforms by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Reporting Council have strengthened governance disclosure requirements and investor rights protections. Drawing on institutional theory and the shareholder activism literature, this study examines whether recent governance reforms have altered institutional investors' engagement strategies, portfolio concentration decisions, and voting behaviour at annual general meetings. A mixed-method design is adopted, combining analysis of SEC reform documents and Nigerian Exchange Group shareholder voting records over five years with interviews conducted with governance officers of fifteen institutional investment firms. The study anticipates that governance reforms have increased institutional investor engagement, particularly in the banking and manufacturing sectors where disclosures have improved most significantly. Findings will assist the Securities and Exchange Commission, PenCom, and institutional investment managers in further aligning governance reform objectives with investor engagement strategies. Keywords: corporate governance reforms, institutional investors, stock market, shareholder activism, Nigeria.