Australian investor sentiment up

Investor sentiment in Australia with regards to their own portfolios, as well as the domestic, regional and world economies has been much stronger compared to the last quarter, according to PIMCO’s second iteration of its regular APAC investor sentiment survey. 

The study, which gauges investor sentiment and outlook in challenging times across the five markets in APAC including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan, revealed that 55% more respondents expected economic growth in Australia over the next 12 months and 50% more respondents expected similar growth in the APAC region. 

However, in terms of expectations for the global economy, there was a 43% turnaround in sentiment – from an overall expectation of contraction in the last survey to growth in this survey. 

“This increase in optimism is also reflected in respondents’ expectations for their own portfolios, although to a lesser extent: in terms of their own portfolios, some 63% of the Australian respondents expect to achieve better-than-average investment returns over the next 12 months (up from 46% last quarter), while 57% expect to outperform the benchmark index (up from 40%),” PIMCO said. 

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At the same time, the survey showed a gender split in terms of asset allocation intentions, with the proportion of females expecting to increase their allocation to property and real estate having grown since last quarter while the male respondents expected their allocations to this asset to remain steady. 

In general, the survey uncovered a divergence in the level of optimism between male and female investors in Australia, with almost twice as many females as males being more concerned now than they were six months ago about their personal finances and retirement savings.  

According to PIMCO, the more bullish attitude of male investors may have in some instances signalled overconfidence but may have also reflected the disproportionate negative impact of the pandemic on female workers.