Survey reveals use of digital resources has intensified in the past year, driving many investment decisions
Much has been written about the impact of the pandemic on digital transformation within the investment industry, but perhaps not so much about the intensified importance of investor resources.
With many weighing whether to favour work-from-home or back to the office, an international survey of institutional investors shows that, whatever happens, the increased use of digital sources to aid investment decisions is likely to be permanent.
The Brunswick Group’s insights from leaders in Canada, the UK, and US, found that remote working has driven demand for information from sources such as email newsletters, YouTube, and other digital investor resources.
Following the GameStop saga, followed by other market spikes, resulting from posts on Reddit groups, the survey also showed that use of this site has risen. However, trust in the forums hit a new low of 2 out of 10, with 54% of respondents giving it only a 1 or zero.
Many investors said that they find the potential for market manipulation through such channels as “frustrating.”
There is a generation split though with younger respondents more likely to trust Reddit and to see the GameStop story as a fundamental shift in power.
Companies need to do more
Investors want to make informed decisions and they want companies to step-up in their provision of digital resources to provide the information they need.
Despite multiple changes to the communication landscape over the past decade, the survey shows that investor resources have lagged.
Investors want richer content that provides more personalized experience and a steady flow of communications including webinars, podcasts, and social media posts.
However, company’s investor relations pages are a vital source of information with 92% of investors using them to investigate an issue and 72% using them to make an investment decision.
“A more digitally-reliant investment community made online and social media sources even more central to investment decision-making. In 2020, digital sources powered more trading decisions and investment recommendations than ever before,” wrote Brunswick partner Marshall Manson in a blog post.
