US investors appear to be exhibiting much the same reluctance as their Australian counterparts to move out of the safety of cash or cash-like investments, according to a Reuters Global Wealth Management Summit.
While a recent Money Management roundtable confirmed the degree to which Australian investors were only tentatively moving out of cash and into equities, the Reuters Global Wealth Management Summit being held this week suggested US investors were still being spooked by events surrounding the Global Financial Crisis.
"There's still a pretty vivid memory of what happened in 2008, 2009, and the impact to people's portfolios," according to the head of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, John Thiel.
He pointed to the fact that US stocks had taken a roller coaster ride over the past five or so years and that investors scared by volatility often retreated to low-yielding fixed income instruments.
"Investors are behaving like most human beings would with the memory of what can happen and isn't in their favour," Thiel said.
Thiel said that among the biggest hurdles for the industry going forward was helping clients regain their confidence and reorient their focus toward goal-driven wealth management.
"Many of these goals — such as socking enough money away for retirement — cannot be reached by parking money in low-yielding investments," he said.
