Only 5% of Canadian RRSP holders have achieved their 30% maximum foreign content limit, while 35% have absolutely no foreign holdings in their portfolios at all, according to a new poll commissioned by RBC Financial Group.

RBC’s 14th annual RRSP survey also shows that while most RRSP holders are not taking advantage of foreign content, 49% know about the foreign content allowance.

Additionally, 24% of these people say if the limit were greater they would increase their current amount of foreign holdings. However, the vast majority — 71% — say they would not allocate greater funds to non-Canadian investments.

“It’s our view that Canadians might want to take advantage of foreign investment opportunities,” said Dan Chornous, chief investment officer, RBC Asset Management. “Canada represents approximately 2% of the world’s capital markets, so foreign investments are essential to building a diversified portfolio. Global markets offer many more investment options than those available in our local markets.”

The International Monetary Fund is forecasting 2004 and 2005 to be the best two-year stretch for global economic growth in 26 years, but according to the RBC survey, the average amount of foreign content held in a Canadian RRSP is 11%.

In 2004, the majority, or 71%, of foreign investments in Canadian RRSPs was in mutual funds. Forty-four percent of respondents identified the United States as one of the areas of the world in which they are invested, followed by Europe at 20%, and Asia at 15%.

The findings are from an RBC Financial Group/Ipsos-Reid poll conducted between Nov. 4 and Nov. 23, 2004. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1,201 adult Canadians was interviewed by telephone.