According to Investment Trends’ 2019 1H Online Broking Report, heightened stock market volatility had not dampened Australians’ interest in equities markets.
The report found that a whopping 740,000 active and Australia-based online investors have placed one or more trades in equities or ETFs over the last 12 months, with 50,000 new first-time investors and 80,000 reactivated investors adding to the statistics.
According to Recep Peker, the research director at Investment Trends, the numbers point out that “overall, Australian online investors are confident that domestic equities will continue to play a key role in their investment portfolio, with 84 per cent agreeing that investing in equities can help them achieve their financial goals sooner, while 54 per cent see shares as a safer bet than property”.
The optimism and uptake of online investment options is despite Mr Peker’s finding that “there is growing anxiety among Australian investors as the RBA cash rate edges ever lower and negative yielding debt in European markets swell in excess of $15 trillion”.
“While it is unclear if negative interest rates will spread to other major markets, it is evident that Australian investors are increasingly concerned with this potential development,” he continued.
“Looking forward, low interest rates will increasingly impact the investing decisions and preferences of Australian investors as they seek to preserve and grow their wealth in uncertain market conditions,” Mr Peker stated.
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