Investors still like risky business

The global financial crisis may have changed investor behaviour but the appetite for risk is still strong, particularly among those close to retirement, according to a new study.

The research, by Associate Professor Hazel Bateman of the Australian School of Business, together with Professor Jordan Louviere and Dr Susan Thorp from University of Technology, Sydney, was presented at the Australian Colloquium of Superannuation Researchers. It examined attitudes of individuals choosing an investment portfolio for a hypothetical retirement savings contribution.

A/Professor Bateman said that while the GFC had influenced people's investment choices, there was not a strong shift toward safer investments.

The research also examined whether there were any changes to investment choice or attitudes to risk due to the global financial crisis - running the choice experiment in March 2007 and again in October 2008 following sharp falls in equity markets around the world.

The majority of respondents were "risk loving" rather than risk averse, a result that was only slightly moderated in the 2008 'crisis' survey.

Older, higher income individuals, such as those nearing retirement were actually more likely to choose high risk investments. Younger, poorer investors were more likely to choose the less risky options, the survey found.

Read the full story at the Australian School of Business website.

Media contact: Marie Kelly | 9385 5895 | mariek@unsw.edu.au