Investors looking forward to more prosperous year

New Zealand investors are optimistic about how their investments will perform this year, the latest ASB Bank Quarterly Investor Confidence survey shows.

A net 21 per cent believe their investments will perform better this year than last. This is the same as last quarter, but is well above the average expectation over the past seven years.

ASB said the expectation of better returns came after a year of high returns. New Zealand shares, measured by the NZSX50, were up 25 per cent; commercial property, measured by the Mercer Unlisted Property Index, rose more than 14 per cent; and the average residential house price rose by more than 10 per cent.

"Expecting better returns than these is truly optimistic," said ASB head of relationship banking and financial services James Mitchell. "However, a high level of confidence is appropriate if one takes these responses less literally and treats them as a measure of general confidence in investment markets."

He said New Zealand's economic framework was structured for growth. The economy had done well recently and should grow strongly over the next five to 10 years, so strong confidence was unsurprising.

Expectations of higher returns this year were greatest among those whose main investment was shares (a net 42 per cent), managed funds (33 per cent) or a small business (32 per cent.

Expectations of those with residential rental property as their main investment fell, with a net 21 per cent expecting greater returns, down from 28 per cent in the September quarter.

The survey polls up to 1000 people.