Australian investors tend to rely more on newspapers for their financial advice than either brokers or financial advisers, according to a recent survey.
Aviva Australia says the survey suggests many Australian investors are limiting their investment potential by relying on do-it-yourself strategies, with 22 per cent turning to newspapers compared to 19 per cent who seek advice from financial advisers and 14 per cent who seek guidance from brokers.
Aviva chief operating officer Grant Salmon says the key to optimising investment income is top advice and that the decision to go it alone could cost investors thousands of dollars.
He says financial advisers and institutions are frustrated that people are still relying on “talk around the water cooler” and newspapers to make major investment decisions.
Salmon suggests lack of diversity tends to be the biggest problem for people investing directly in the sharemarket.
He says the survey suggests that around 51 per cent of investors have at least four companies in their portfolio, while experts generally look at between eight and 12 companies.
“Australian investors on the sharemarket are often missing out on premium investment gains because they don’t have the scale of funds necessary to make a reasonable profit,” Salmon says.
He says this has led to some investors looking at managed funds which invest in shares.
“Most managed funds investing in shares give investors access to between 30 and 150 companies — this provides enormous opportunity to diversify investments, even for investors with modest amounts to invest,” Salmon says.
