International equities grab eye of active investors

Australian investors are opting for higher levels of overseas investments and are likely to reallocate assets to the United States or Asia before the end of the month according to the Certitude Global Investing Intentions Index (CGIII).

The CGII collated the views of around 800 active investors and found that interest in overseas investments continue to track highly with high net worth investor demand hitting a four month high.

Among those surveyed the United States still ranked highly as the first preference for international investments with 48 per cent of respondents choosing the region which was an increase on previous surveys and reflects the growth in the US economy and its ability to handle its first interest rate increase since 2006.

Investing in Asia was nominated by 18 per cent of respondents, up by 7 per centage points on the previous month's survey, with CGIII suggesting that investors were using the region for emerging markets exposure ahead of Eastern Europe and South America.

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The CGIII survey also found that 20 per cent of investors were likely to move to these positions before Christmas up from 13 per cent of investors set to act in the next 30 days in the previous survey and 11 per cent in the survey before that.

Certitude Global Investment chief executive Craig Mowll said the results indicated investors were becoming increasingly decisive and regarding Christmas as the deadline for overseas investments.

He also stated that concerns around domestic investments are part of the reason for the international interest and shift offshore.

"At the moment we are seeing a lot of commentary around domestic issues and a possible recession, so by comparison the news from other markets appears more optimistic," Mowll said

"With the festive season marking a traditional slowdown in investment activity it seems likely that some investors are diverting funds abroad in the short term at least as international markets, in particular Asia, appear to offer good opportunities."

According to the CGIII, equities are the preferred investment tool for gaining international exposure with 81 per cent of respondents stating it is their preferred asset class while commodities and fixed income were nominated by just under 10 per cent in both cases, showing increased interest over previous months.