The FMA says investor confidence is on the rise. Photo / File
The FMA says investor confidence is on the rise. Photo / File
More and more Kiwis are making use of online share trading platforms, according to a Financial Markets Authority (FMA) survey.
The FMA's latest Investor Confidence Survey also said 72 per cent of investors were confident in New Zealand's financial markets, up from 66 per cent in 2020.
Of those respondents who bought shares themselves, six out of 10 used platforms such as Sharesies, InvestNow, or Hatch.
Those who used an online platform to buy their shares were significantly more likely to be aged between 25-39 years, in fulltime employment, and have an annual personal income of $100,000 or more.
"These investors tend to have high confidence in the financial markets and say their confidence has increased over the last year," the FMA survey said.
Although the broad types of investments held by investors hasn't shifted significantly over recent surveys, in the past three years term deposits have dwindled from 34 per cent to 28 per cent, while shares rose from 17 per cent to 21 per cent.
FMA chief executive Rob Everett. Photo / File
Term deposits have tended to be the most prevalent investment product outside KiwiSaver, but in this low interest rate environment, with changing behaviours and preferences, individual shares are closing the gap, FMA chief executive Rob Everett said.
"This aligns closely with the rise of DIY, or fractional, digital share investing over the last few years, with 60 per cent of share investors now buying shares through these platforms."
Around half of New Zealanders aged 18 years and over indicated they have carried out some sort of investment activity in the past 12 months - similar to the finding of last year's survey.
Most New Zealanders (83 per cent) hold an investment of some form, which was consistent with the past four years.
KiwiSaver continues to be the most common form of investment amongst New Zealanders (63 per cent), and for three in 10 KiwiSaver is the only investment they have.
Roughly one in 10 New Zealanders said they invest in managed funds and a similar amount are investing in residential property.
Similar to the last year's survey result, around half of New Zealanders aged 18 and over indicated they have carried out some sort of investment activity in the past 12 months.
"A significantly higher proportion mention they made new investments or increased their investments than a year ago [23 per cent compared to 17 per cent in 2020]," the FMA said.
"There has also been an increase in the proportion decreasing their Investments over the last 12 months [9 per cent, up from 6 per cent in 2020]."
As was the case in 2020, investors who have KiwiSaver, as well as other investments, have been the most active over the past 12 months in terms of making changes to their investments –particularly increasing their investments (41 per cent), the survey said.
