Most Canadian online investors focused on long-term investment
goals: RBC poll
Few online investors feel their portfolios are well diversified
TORONTO, October 18, 2010 — A vast majority
of Canadian self-directed investors (81 per cent) say they
use their online brokerage account for long-term investment
goals such as saving for retirement or a child's education,
according to a recent RBC Direct Investing poll. Only a small
proportion, (11 per cent) say they use their online brokerage
accounts solely for short-term profit.
"We discovered through conversations with clients that
the greatest demand is for portfolio management tools that
help investors build and monitor their long-term investment
portfolios," said Jason Storsley, president and CEO,
RBC Direct Investing. "While many investors have benefited
from portfolio management services through traditional advice
based channels, we have recently introduced new tools to help
self-directed investors do the same thing on their own - set
investment goals, build, manage and monitor their portfolios."
Only one-in-five (19 per cent) online investors feel their
portfolio is well diversified, with more women stating so
(22 per cent) compared to men (17 per cent). Three-in-ten
say they are not very diversified, not at all diversified
or they don't know. The survey also found that the more diversified
the portfolio, the more likely investors are to say it has
performed as well as (61 per cent) or better than (19 per
cent) expected.
"It's important to periodically re-evaluate your investment
strategy and overall portfolio," said Storsley. "One
of our new tools helps investors determine whether their portfolio
is well diversified and has the appropriate asset mix to meet
their stated investment objectives. It also lets them see
how changing their holdings affects their portfolio before
they decide to buy or sell in the market."
To support online investors in the management of their portfolios,
RBC Direct Investing has introduced the following online tools:
- Goal setting - helps investors define short- and
long-term goals and charts progress towards achieving these
goals;
- Analyze & Rebalance - determines whether a
portfolio has the appropriate asset mix to meet the stated
investment objectives and illustrates how changes to holdings,
using sample transactions, would affect a portfolio before
trading in the market; and
- Performance - provides the ability to evaluate
a portfolio's historical rate of return and compare performance
against various indices and standard risk-profile benchmark
returns.
The RBC Online Brokerage Users study was conducted by Ipsos
Reid between August 11 and August 17, 2010. This online survey
of 631 Canadian online brokerage users, who personally traded
in their online brokerage accounts and had been active in
the preceding six months, was conducted via the Ipsos I-Say
National Online Panel. No weighting of the final sample was
done as it is assumed that the respondents are a random sample
of Canadian online brokerage users. A survey with an unweighted
probability sample of this size and a 100 per cent response
rate would have an estimated margin of error of ±3.8
percentage points 19 times out of 20 of what the results would
have been had the entire population of online brokerage users
in Canada been polled.
About RBC Direct Investing
RBC Direct Investing, one of Canada's leading online
brokerages is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada.
RBC Direct Investing provides innovative tools and resources
to assist self-directed investors with building and managing
portfolios to meet their long- and short-term investment goals.
Clients have access to their investments 24/7 online or by
phone and can choose from a broad range of investment products
including stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), GICs,
T-bills and over 2,500 mutual funds. RBC Direct Investing
Practice Accounts provide the opportunity to build a mock
portfolio and gain experience with online investing without
using real money. For more information about RBC Direct Investing
visit our web site at www.rbcdirectinvesting.com.
RBC Direct Investing Inc. - Member Canadian Investor Protection
Fund.
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Media contacts:
Kathy Bevan, RBC, (416) 974-1757
Suzanne Willers, RBC, (416) 974-2727
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