When it comes to investing, Australians are the least willing to embrace new technology, according to the Legg Mason 2016 Global Investment Survey.
Legg Mason surveyed 4,103 high net worth investors aged from 40 to 75 (“investors”) and 1,267 high net worth investors aged 18 to 39 (“millennials”) about their investment goals across 19 global markets.
Survey respondents were asked about their willingness to use a wide variety of investment platforms such as apps, mobile investing, online, automated advice and social media.
Australian investors trailed behind their global counterparts, with only 4% responding that they were prepared to embrace technology when investing, compared to the global average of 38%.
Across the global regions surveyed, Asian investors were the most keen to embrace investment technology, with 47% saying that they will embrace these channels when investing, followed by Latin America at 34% and the US and Europe both at 11%.
Asian investors also had a better understanding of investment terminology, with 46% of investors answering questions on ‘rate of return’ correctly, compared to the global average of 44%.
Across the individual types of technology platforms, within Australia purchasing investments through an automated online advice platform was the most popular choice at 5%. However, this was significantly lower than the 37% average for global investors.
At 2%, Australian investors registered that the least popular way to purchase investments was through a social media platform, which was also the least popular globally.
Global investors from US and Asia considered using apps to purchase investments as their most popular platform at 29% and 52% respectively. This contrasted with only 3% of Australian investors willing to use apps when investing.
Unsurprisingly, when looking at different age groups, Australian millennials (aged 18-39) were more open to using technology (22%) when investing than Australian investors over the age of 40 (4%).
However, the Australian millennial respondents’ willingness to use technology was significantly lower than the average global millennial investors’, of which 55% were willing to embrace technology when investing.
Commenting on Australian investors’ reluctance to use technology when investing, Legg Mason’s Global Head of Distribution Marketing, Matt Schiffman, said: “These results highlight that Australian investors are lagging behind the investment technology curve.
“Australian advisers and investors alike should recognise the opportunities that technology can bring in making more informed investment decisions alongside face-to-face advisory services.”
