Study of the Relationship between Credit Diversification Strategy and Banks’ Credit Risk and Return: Evidence from Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE)

The effect of banks’ credit portfolio diversification on return on asset, return on equity and credit risk is investigated in this study. The sample is comprised of seven banks listed in Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) whose data has been accessible between the years 2009 and 2014. According to the type of data and analysis methods, panel data multivariate regression method was used in this study. Results show that there is a significant relationship between credit portfolio diversification and risk; furthermore, it is the size that influences return on equity (ROE) and return on asset (ROA) of banks and in fact, there is no statistically significant relationship between use of diversification strategy in banks’ credit portfolio and their ROA and ROE.