A new survey has found around one-third (31 per cent) of consumers have actively invested as a direct consequence of the COVID crisis, in a bid to capitalise on the continued market volatility.
The finding has come from a white paper by global funds network Calastone, which has researched how investors have responded to the COVID crisis.
Australian consumers are the most worried about their financial futures due to COVID, with the research showing 72 per cent are concerned, in contrast to the global average of 65 per cent.
While less than half (44 per cent) of Australians identified as proactive investors, below the global average of 55 per cent, those who did ranked highly against international peers in satisfaction.
The majority (72 per cent) of Australian proactive investors said they were satisfied with performance, on par with US investors. Aussies were also relatively satisfied with fees, second to the US.
Around half (48 per cent) are invested in active funds, while 45 per cent are in passive funds. A third (33 per cent) bought investments directly from a fund manager.
Consistent with their global peers, Australians’ top three reasons for investing were to grow capital long-term, earn higher returns than any savings accounts and diversify money management.
Ross Fox, managing director and head of Australia and New Zealand at Calastone, noted gaps in confidence, understanding and transparency are holding back investors with capital to allocate.
“In today’s more self-directed market, Australians want transactional, user friendly, accessible, low cost and more transparent ways to engage as investors,” Mr Fox said.
Source: COVID pushing one-third of Aussies to investing, Sarah Simpkins, Investor Daily