The vast majority of Canadians do not appreciate the strong performance already achieved by the market in 2003 according to a national survey sponsored by Investors Group.

Two-thirds of those who responded to the survey either didn’t know, or thought the market had stayed flat or declined. Only 36% of respondents correctly knew that the market had gone up in the first eight months of the year.

The survey also found that the number of Canadians who plan to contribute more to their RRSP has increased .

The survey found that 29% of Canadians say they plan to contribute more to their RRSP this year than last year. A similar survey last year reported that only 24% planned to contribute more.

“Canadians’ rising confidence and enthusiasm for saving and investing is very encouraging,” said Debbie Ammeter, Investors Group VP of advanced financial planning. ” At this point it appears Canadians’ instincts are good but their knowledge could be better.”

In fact, Canadian RRSP investors who were aware of the recent growth in financial markets are also more confident about market growth in the coming year. The survey showed that those who knew the markets have gone up are twice as likely to expect the markets to go up next year (60% of those who knew the market up compared to 31% of those who thought the market had gone down this year).

Canadians’ enthusiasm for financial markets is higher compared to last year. According to the poll, 17% of people describe themselves as more enthusiastic about stocks and mutual funds this year, double the 8% who said the same last year.

Twenty-three per cent of those surveyed expect to achieve returns greater than 10% in their portfolio, up from 16% who expected that last year

While vast majority of Canadians identified several negative ripples through the economy in 2003 – from SARS to war in Iraq to US trade disputes – the great majority also said they had not changed their personal investment strategies as a result.

The survey results are based on a Decima teleVox national telephone survey conducted with a representative sample of 2000 Canadians (18 years and older) between September 12th and 22nd, 2003. A sample of this size will provide results that can be considered accurate for the population overall to within plus or minus 2.2% 19 times out of 20.

http://www.newswire.ca/releases/October2003/16/c1329.html