Half of Aussie investors consider investments outside of Australia

Oksana Patron

21 September 2022

Almost half of Australian investors are considering investing outside of Australia in the next six months, followed by the growing preferences towards investing more in bonds, exchange traded funds (ETFs) and managed funds, according to HSBC survey.

Although equities still made up a large part of Australia investor portfolios and investors were finding value in direct share investments, a growing sentiment towards bonds, ETFs and managed funds reflected the fact investors were looking for investments which required “less time and effort to manage”.

“Given this growing interest, we expect to see a greater diversity of ETFs and managed funds becoming available in the next few years together with investors being given the tools to better track and monitor ETFs,” Donahue D’Souza, head of investments for HSBC Australia, said.

At the same time, the HSBC Investor Insights survey confirmed that 73% of Australian investors have also shifted their investment approach in the last six months, with 36% of investors becoming more balanced in their investment approach and only 9% taking a more aggressive approach.

Another significant finding from the survey was that 48% of Aussie investors were open to investment opportunities outside of Australia and considered sectors and industries that may not be able to access in Australia.

“However, while interest in international investments is high, half (50%) of Australian investors do not know or are unsure how to do this,” D’Souza said.

“Positively, many are turning to market research (36%) and financial advisers (30%) but these findings indicate there is opportunity for greater investor education regarding investment opportunities outside of Australia,” he added.

The survey also found that men (31%) were more likely than women (25%) to have invested in equities in the last six months, while millennials (31%) had been more active in trading in equities than their baby boomer counterparts (24%).