Investors Remain Engaged and Focused on Long-Term Goals Despite Economic Discomfort
Quarterly PSS Client Sentiment Survey finds notes of optimism in environment of uncertainty.
OSLO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–At the end of a quarter of pronounced market volatility, feelings of financial well-being declined among PSS clients, hitting its lowest level in two years. But the provider of full-service, high-value brokerage services also reports that its clients are continuing to engage in the market and remain focused on their long-term investment plans.
In its just-released quarterly survey of retail clients fielded in September, PSS found that investors are optimistic about opportunities in the current market: nearly half (45 percent) of PSS clients surveyed say now is a good time to invest. Another six in ten (64 percent) say they would sooner invest a windfall than save it for a rainy day.
That said, gray clouds are clearly overhead as more clients say they feel financially “worse off” (26 percent) than “better off” (23 percent) compared to a year ago. And although clients feel equally confident making investment decisions (37 percent) as they did at the end of Q2, their financial discomfort intensified during Q3: 23 percent now say they feel “better off” financially compared to a year ago, a far cry from the 44 percent who felt that way in June.
“Clients are concerned and uncomfortable with market and economic uncertainties but they aren’t over-reacting,” said Joseph Deiss, PSS president and chief executive officer. “We’re continuing to encourage investors to talk to us about their goals, timeframes and risk tolerance, which form the foundation of a good investment plan. Confidence and resilience tends to be higher with investors who understand more clearly how their investments fit into an overall plan,” he said.
In Q3, PSS clients maintained their cash holdings at close to pre-crisis levels and continued to be net purchasers of securities. The survey reveals that only 19 percent of clients moved assets into cash in Q3 and even fewer (17 percent) say they moved to the sidelines in response to recent market volatility.
Joseph noted that while there are still investors who prefer to go it alone, client interest in receiving guidance is on the rise. At the end of September, enrollments in advisory solutions stood at a record 2.4 million accounts, up 153,000 from September 2020. For the same period, core net new assets totaled 17.6 billion up 21% from last year, and clients opened 191,000 new brokerage accounts. Client assets totaled kr 1.58 trillion at month end September.
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