September 21, 2020 – The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) and Pollara Strategic Insights today released the results of their annual Canadian Mutual Fund and Exchange-Traded Fund Investor Survey, which has tracked attitudes, expectations, and behaviours of Canadian investors since 2006.
The survey continues to explore confidence in mutual funds and ETFs, the value of advisors, understanding and engagement in fees, and satisfaction with CRM2 statements. For the first time, this year’s survey gauges investor attitudes toward responsible investing.
“The annual Pollara survey enables us to better understand Canadian investors and work towards policy outcomes that best serve their needs,” said Paul Bourque, President and CEO, IFIC. “It is particularly interesting to note the strong interest in responsible investment as we continue to work towards greater clarity with respect to the strategies, products, and terminology related to this approach.”
“During these uncertain times, it is positive to see that investors continue to place a great deal of confidence in mutual funds,” said Lesli Martin, Vice President, Pollara Strategic Insights. “It is also encouraging to see that both mutual fund and ETF investors have shown increased satisfaction with CRM2 statements.”
Key Findings include:
- Confidence in mutual funds by mutual fund investors is at an all-time high, with 92% of respondents stating that they are somewhat confident, confident, or completely confident in mutual funds.
- The use of advisors for purchasing mutual funds has declined steadily since 2016, with 75% of investors stating that they work with an advisor in 2020.
- Satisfaction with advisors remains very high for both mutual fund investors, at 96% and ETF investors, at 98%.
- Satisfaction with the quality of information in CRM2 statements increased from last year across all key measures for mutual fund investors and ETF investors, including clearly showing the rate of return and clearly showing the fees paid.
- One-quarter of both mutual fund and ETF investors currently own responsible investments.
- A majority of both mutual fund (61%) and ETF (61%) investors who do not currently own responsible investments indicate they are somewhat likely, likely, or very likely to include these investments in their portfolio in the next few years.
Pollara conducted telephone interviews with approximately 1,000 randomly-selected mutual fund holders and 500 ETF holders who are eighteen years of age or older and make all or some of the decisions regarding investment purchases in their households.
For more details, please download the full report in English or French. Also, please visit the IFIC website for their press release and spokespeople.
