Investors stick with planners: study

Financial planners have more influence over investors than lawyers or bankers when making investment decisions, anAssirtsurvey of investors has found.

The survey, Assirt’s2002 Investor Market Trends, Attitudes & Behaviours Reportmeasured the trends, behaviour and opinions of 283 investors with more than $20,000 invested outside compulsory superannuation and their own home.

But while investors favoured financial planners, 60 per cent said they did not rely heavily on ‘expert advice’ when making investment decisions, but investors over 55 with less than $50,000 to invest were most likely to seek out expert advice.

Next in line after financial planners in terms of influence over investors were accountants, spouses/partners, stockbrokers and marketing material produced by financial institutions.

Moderate influence was enjoyed by investors’ parents, friends, research found on the Internet and the print media. Lawyers and bankers held the least sway over investors’ decisions.

Interestingly, marketing material was more influential than opinion of friends or investors’ own research.

“Clearly, marketing material can be very biased, but investors today appear to be able to distinguish between marketing fluff and fact,” Assirt market research manager Vanessa McMahon says.

“People crave information when making important decisions, and whether this information comes from professionals or through personal research, it’s pleasing to see people turning to a variety of sources.”

McMahon says brands play a powerful role in winning new customers. The report found thatCommonwealth,Westpac,AMPandANZlead the field in brand awareness and market share.

“For the most part, investors see little difference in the products offered by fund management companies — therefore branding is a key point of differentiation,” McMahon says.

But she emphasises that brand loyalty does not equate necessarily to strong inflow of funds.