‘Expert advice’ driving HNW confidence

For the month of August, the Certitude Global Investing Index found a sharp fall in investor confidence for Australian equities.

This included a decline in demand for international investments – although HNW investors still displayed strong demand for global investments.

Certitude Global Investments chief executive Craig Mowll said investors obtaining good advice was what was helping HNW investors make measured and considered investment decisions.

“We know that HNW investors are significantly more likely to be taking expert advice, for example they are likely to be considering international managed funds covering multiple regions in their portfolio,” Mr Mowll said.

“Further, when we look at the split between advised versus non-advised investors, the disparity in levels of confidence is even more marked,” he said.

“Advised investors have maintained the same levels of net demand for global investment over the last four months while non-advised investors have become very nervous,” Mr Mowll said.

The index also indicated although overall demand fell for both Australian and International shares, their popularity continued to “outstrip other asset classes” including property and exchange traded funds.

“Results from the [index] in August suggest that investors are cautious about most equity markets and the slight decline in appetite for international investments is symptomatic of this nervousness,” Mr Mowll said.

“While HNW investors buck this trend, the average investor is turning to lower risk asset classes such as global fixed income to maintain exposure outside Australia in what is considered a safer investment product,” he said.