Designing a Model of Fund Investment Strategies During the COVID-19 Crisis Using a Grounded Theory Approach
Keywords:
Investment fund, COVID-19 crisis, investment strategyAbstract
COVID-19 crisis and to identify the conditions, strategies, and consequences associated with investment decision-making in crisis environments. This applied study was grounded in a pragmatic philosophical paradigm and employed a qualitative grounded theory approach based on the Strauss and Corbin framework. The participants comprised senior managers of investment funds and faculty members specializing in investment management. Participants were selected through snowball sampling, which continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. In total, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted. The collected data were analyzed using MAXQDA software through open, axial, and selective coding. The analysis generated 30 initial codes and 15 axial categories organized into five paradigmatic dimensions. The causal conditions consisted of intensified investment risk and uncertainty and disruption of asset valuation. Contextual conditions included liquidity characteristics and portfolio structure, differences in investment opportunities across industries, and the logic of asset selection and value assessment. The fund’s analytical and technological capacity and the cost requirements of implementing investment decisions were identified as intervening conditions. The principal strategies comprised portfolio holding and restructuring, stock valuation and selection, timing and trading strategies, and technology-driven strategies. The identified consequences included changes in the risk–return balance, changes in portfolio composition and liquidity position, changes in strategy implementation costs, and shifts in strategic orientation in response to changing conditions. Selective coding ultimately identified “strategic investment adaptation through dynamic management of the risk–return–value relationship” as the central category integrating the dimensions of the proposed model. Investment fund strategies under crisis conditions represent a dynamic and adaptive process rather than a static choice. Their effectiveness depends on managers’ ability to continuously reassess the relationship among risk, return, and value, restructure portfolios, and utilize analytical and technological capabilities in response to changing environmental conditions.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Foroogh Jahanbazi Goojani (Author); Saeid Aliahmadi (Corresponding author); Mehdi Aghabeikzadeh (Author)

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