Survey finds investors still subdued

By KEVIN TAYLOR

Investor confidence stayed weak in the final quarter of last year, says an ASB Bank survey.

But ASB chief manager of investments Roger Perry said the low confidence was unlikely to last.

Up to 1000 investors were surveyed nationwide.

The survey showed that 26 per cent of investors expected returns to be worse than last year, up 8 percentage points from the September quarter. Twenty-two per cent expected better returns, down from 27.

Mr Perry said all major investment markets had shown positive returns since the September 11 attacks. The war in Afghanistan was being quickly resolved, and there were favourable prospects for a synchronised economic recovery in Europe and the United States.

"Consequently, we believe investors' confidence will improve over the coming year."

The survey showed that those who had their investments mainly in term deposits, where interest rates fell steadily throughout last year, were the most pessimistic.

Investors in shares and managed funds were moderately pessimistic, reflecting the volatile sharemarket of the past year.

In contrast, small business and commercial property investors were quite optimistic, perhaps indicating a robust domestic economy. Investors aged over 60 were more pessimistic than younger ones.