Investors optimistic about future financial position: Survey

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian investors are fairly optimistic about their future financial situation despite being least satisfied with their present financial standing when compared to other aspects of their life, according to the latest Manulife Investor Sentiment Index.
More than half (52%) of Malaysian investors surveyed believe that their financial position will improve in the next two years while only 10% feel that it will worsen.
This optimism can be attributed to the improved financial standing of investors in recent years, with a similar proportion indicating that they are now doing better financially compared to two years ago.
A third of investors predicted that cash will be the top performing asset class for the year whilst one-fifth expect property to lead, followed by REITS (14%).
Cash remains the asset class that most investors plan to hold more of in the first six months of the year, followed by REITs, mutual funds/unit trusts, and property for investment purposes.
In terms of popular investment market choices, Malaysia investors displayed high optimism towards offshore markets such as China, Japan and the US, but sentiment towards Malaysia dropped from 42 points in the third quarter of 2014 to 36 points in the fourth quarter.
Nonetheless, though investors express optimism towards other non-local markets, their actual inclination towards investing in them is considerably lower and only 7% mentioned that they had experience investing offshore.
The local market is where most investors are still planning to invest more for 2015.