IIROC poll results shed light on obstacles faced by Canadians who want to invest
Most Canadians with no investment experience appear to be stuck in a vicious cycle, as their lack of knowledge and confidence in investing is holding them back from taking the first step.
That’s according to a new survey of 2,000 Canadians, which include 500 aspiring investors, conducted by the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) with the Strategic Counsel.
Among aspiring investors who participated, 70% were found to have a post-secondary education. Almost half were in the active workforce, while nearly 70% were over 40 years old and another 30% are retired.
Across all aspiring investors who participated, almost half (49%) said they don’t invest because they don’t know enough about it. One quarter (25%) said they preferred to use their money in other ways, and nearly the same number (26%) cited a feeling that investing is too risky.
Six in ten said they weren’t confident in their ability to make good investment decisions (60%) or did not know the options they had in order to get investment information and advice (61%). Meanwhile, almost two thirds (65%) said they do not know what investment products and services were available to them.
The survey also found that aspiring investors — and, to a lesser extent, current investors — held a perceived financial inability to pay for advice from an investment advisor. That included people who don’t feel they have enough money to get advice from an investment advisor (41% of aspiring investors and 23% of current investors) and those who don’t think they can afford to get advice from an investment advisor (28% of aspiring investors and 18% of current investors).
The survey also looked at confidence and knowledge levels among current investors across a number of dimensions. Most current investors were confident in their ability to make decisions about what to do with their money (80%) and about investments (72%). Most were also confident in terms of their understanding of the performance of their current investments (77%) and the fees they currently pay (72%).
Just over two thirds of current investors also considered themselves knowledgeable on the options available for them to get investing information and advice (67%) as well as the financial products and services that are available to them (67%).
