Canadian investors are holding 13 per cent of their money in GICs and a full 11 per cent don’t know what they are invested in, according to a new poll conducted by Leger Marketing on behalf of full-service investment dealer Edward Jones.

Among Canadians who have investments, including those with Registered Retirement Savings Plans and Tax Free Savings Accounts, the majority own mutual funds (41 per cent), followed by stocks (14 per cent), and closely followed by GICs (13 per cent).

“Holding as much in cash and GICs as growth investments (such as stocks) means your portfolio may not be properly balanced, which can cause you to miss out on opportunities to grow your investments,” said Canadian market strategist for Edward Jones, Craig Fehr. “Cash is providing little to no return in today’s environment. It’s important that your investments are aligned with your long-term financial goals, not short-term emotions.”

The survey also revealed that half of Canadians plan to make some kind of investment this year and of those, one in four plan to buy GICs, further adding to their cash and short-term holdings.

“Given the market’s performance, with stocks doing well but the potential for rising interest rates going forward, we recommend investors review their portfolios, rebalancing their mix of stocks and bonds and adding quality investments that are poised to perform well today and over the long term,” Fehr said.

Fehr adds that investors should be wary of being over weighted in long-term bonds as the threat of rising interest rates is likely to impact future returns. In the poll, Quebec was the province with the highest amount of investors holding bonds (10 per cent) and Manitoba/Saskatchewan was the lowest at 1 per cent. The overall average of bond holdings was 4 per cent.

Canadians may need some help deciding what to invest in, of those choices offered in the poll question (mutual funds, GICs, Stocks, Bonds, Annuities/Segregated Funds), a full 28 per cent said they wouldn’t be putting their investments in any of those products and 20 per cent said they didn’t know where they would be putting their money in 2013.

A survey of 1,501 Canadians was completed online between April 1 and April 4. A probability sample of the same size would yield a margin of error of +/- 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20.