The Australian Share Ownership Study released today by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) shows that 6.7 million people or 38% of the adult Australian population invested in the Australian share market, either directly (via shares or other listed investments) or indirectly (via unlisted managed funds), in 2012.
This is a decline from 43% total share ownership when the Study was last conducted in 2010. Total share ownership peaked in 2004 prior to the global financial crisis when 55% of adult Australians owned shares either directly or indirectly. Direct share ownership also declined from 39% to 34% over this period.
Despite the overall decline, the 2012 Study found that 43% of those surveyed believed it was a good time to hold on to shares. Investor confidence was slightly lower, with 42% saying they intended to buy shares in the short-term, down from 62% in 2010. However, the average number of share trades increased to 22 in 2012, up from 15 when the survey was last conducted.
Share ownership remains the preferred asset class for personal investments, with 34% of those surveyed stating they invested in shares, ranking above residential property (22%) and other listed investments (3%).
The Study found that the ‘typical’ direct Australian share owner is likely to be a tertiary-educated male, who predominantly trades through an online broker. Males are far more likely to invest in shares, with 40% of males being direct share owners compared to 28% of females. Research also shows that the likelihood of share ownership increases with age, with incidence peaking in the 65 to 74 age range.
Other notable findings:
- Australia continues to have one of the highest levels of share ownership in the world (see page 29 of the
Study’s Report via link below). - For investors who sought advice in 2012, financial planners and advisors were the most common source
used by 18% of respondents, closely followed by friends and family (14%), and newspapers (12%) (see
page 15). - Investors from higher income households were far more likely to directly invest in shares, with 40% of
those having an annual income of between $100,000 and $200,000, and 58% having an annual income of
more than $200,000 (see page 9). - The use of online retail brokers continues to grow. Of those who had purchased shares in the last two
years, 65% used an online broker, up from 52% in the 2010 Study.
The 2012 Study – the 13th in a series dating back to 1991 – was conducted nationally in October and November last year with a randomly selected sample of 2,000 adult Australians. It highlights the incidence of share ownership among the population and offers insights into the attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of retail share market investors in Australia.
The 2012 Australian Share Ownership Study is available here.