Despite rising gas prices and other economic pressures, Canadians pushed investor sentiment to its highest level in more than four years, according to a recent quarterly poll conducted for Manulife Financial.

The 27th quarterly Manulife Investor Sentiment Index, based on a survey in mid-September amid rising gas prices following hurricane Katrina, found nine of 10 categories of investments and vehicles gained ground or held steady for the second straight quarter.

Segregated and balanced funds showed the strongest gains while RRSPs were the only area that fell slightly.

The survey of 1,002 Canadians by Maritz Research showed the overall Manulife Investor Sentiment Index gained two points to +24 in September, up from June and the highest level since June 2001.

“In contrast to recent consumer confidence surveys, Canadians seem to show some strong resilience toward investing, even amid rising energy prices and energy-related impacts on equity markets in the past month,” said Bruce Gordon, Manulife Financial’s senior executive vp and general manager, Canada, in a release. “In late 2004, the index reflected sensitivity to predictions of possibly higher interest rates, but investors seem to have shaken that off and remain focused on long-term savings and investment plans.”

Since its launch in 1999, the index has remained in positive territory overall, peaking at +35 in early 2000 and bottoming out at a low of +11 in December 2001.

“We’ve seen the index near this level only three times since 2001 and Canadians remain positive about investing, even through some very interesting and sometimes difficult periods,” Gordon added.

The quarterly index monitors how Canadians say they feel about investing in 10 different categories and vehicles. The index reflects the percentage of those who say they believe it is a good or very good time to invest – minus those who feel the opposite.

Among six investment categories measured each quarter, all remained in positive territory with balanced funds and cash showing the largest gains since the previous poll in June. Balanced funds rose five points and cash by four, while investing in homes and other property remained relatively steady.

The poll by Maritz Research was conducted with 1,002 Canadians aged 18 and older between September 15 and 21, 2005. The results have a margin of error of +/- three per cent, 19 times out of 20.