At over 90 pages long, the report contains many insights about the investment community, including the number of investors in Australia, differences in gender and age groups, and views on ESG.
Here are a few numbers:
- 10.2m Australians hold investments other than their home and superannuation (58% male & 42% female);
- 7.7m have invested in an asset listed on an exchange;
- 22% commenced investing in these assets in the past two years;
- Only 8% of investors are under 25 – 49% are between 25-49, while 43% are 50+; and
- 1.33m people intend to invest in the next 12 months.
The report found that the number of female investors is on the rise and is on a par with males when it comes to new investors.
There are still barriers – some women reported that they are not yet investing because they don’t have enough money, aren’t confident that they’ll make the best decisions, and don’t know where to start. But these are not only problems for women – respondents confirmed that the biggest challenge everyone has with investing is knowing which source to trust.
When it came to different types of assets, the study found that Australian shares continue to be the most popular, although ETFs have risen in popularity by 5% over the past three years. Younger investors are more risk adverse than other generations, but counterintuitively are the most likely to hold crypto currency.
So why are people investing? Surprisingly, the most common financial goal is to go on a holiday, followed by getting finances in order, and paying down debts.
We have asked ASX to provide an article on the survey for the August EQUITY issue but, in the meantime, you may want to watch the videos and read the report here and ASA Director, Lel Smits, has written an article for Smart Company.
