Investor confidence down, accountants say

According to results of a survey conducted by Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) investor confidence in local and international capital markets is worse than in the depths of COVID lockdowns.

The survey cites a combination of market volatility, supply chain disruptions, inflation, interest rate hikes and the pandemic as unsettling investors.

The annual survey of members has been running for four years, with this year confidence in capital markets the lowest across reports.

Key findings include:

• Investors citing global political unrest as the biggest risk to the local economy was up 10 per cent since last year, now a quarter of investors surveyed

• Retail investor confidence in capital markets fell by 10 per cent on last year, with those reporting high confidence in both the domestic sitting at 39 per cent and international markets at 24 per cent

• Age appears to divide investors on crytpo investments, with those aged 18-44 most confident to invest in crypto assets (71 per cent) and capital markets (79 per cent), while in the 45-65 age group, just 26 per cent were confident investing in crypto assets