Thawing out from four-year freeze: Canadian investors express confidence

- Biggest retirement concern? Running out of money, according to 46 per cent of survey respondents -

TORONTO, Jan. 30, 2013 /CNW/ - Canadian investors are more certain of their investment personality traits in 2013 and greater numbers are open to taking risks, according to Franklin Templeton Investments' latest research.

The January 2013 survey found that 82 per cent of investors identify themselves as having a specific investment personality, up from 68 per cent in 2009. The percentage of investors who identify themselves as 'risk-taking' has increased to 14 per cent, up from a relatively steady eight per cent in the past four years*.

"Canadian investors are becoming more confident and open to taking risks than at any time since Franklin Templeton started its investor personality research in 2009," said Don Reed, president and CEO of Franklin Templeton Investments Corp.

The survey hosted on the Angus Reid Forum also found that 46 per cent of investors are worried about running out of money in retirement. Only 11 per cent have no financial concerns about retirement.

"Since 2008, many people have moved their retirement savings into low-yielding bonds and cash, so any investment growth has lost out to inflation," said Mr. Reed. "To help grow their RSP, Canadians need to invest in the equity markets over the long-term. One way to get back into the markets is to dollar-cost average into an equity mutual fund or balanced fund."

The survey also found:

• More men identify themselves as opportunistic, risk-taking or analytical at 47 per cent than women at 35 per cent.
  
  
• On a regional basis, Albertans are the biggest risk-takers at 20 per cent, while Ontarians and Quebeckers are more risk-averse at 13 per cent.
  
  
• Men are significantly more risk-taking (18 per cent) than women (10 per cent).
  
  
• People are less worried about running out of money in retirement once they are aged 55 or over (34 per cent) compared to those aged 35 - 54 (53 per cent) and 18 - 34 (56 per cent).
  
  
• On a regional basis, British Columbians are highly likely to have financial concerns about retirement at 90 per cent, compared with Quebeckers who were the least concerned at 86 per cent. Albertans were most concerned about running out of money in retirement at 51 per cent, while British Columbians were the least concerned at 40 per cent.
  
  
• English-speaking Canadians are more likely to have financial concerns about retirement (90 per cent) than their French-speaking counterparts (83 per cent).
  
  
• When it comes to thinking about their retirement savings and investments, almost three-quarters (73 per cent) have little or no stress.

About the survey:

From January 15 and 16, 2013, an online survey was conducted among 946 randomly selected Canadian adults who currently invest in stocks, bonds or mutual funds or have done so in the past five years, and who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error which measures sampling variability is +/- 3.05%, or 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region census data. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.

*From 2009 - 2012, an online survey was conducted each year among about 1000 randomly selected Canadian adults who currently invest in stocks, bonds or mutual funds, or have done so in the past five years, and who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. Questions are tracking and data is comparable year-over-year.

About Franklin Templeton Investments:

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and domestic investment management solutions managed by its Franklin, Templeton, Bissett, Mutual Series, Fiduciary Trust and Darby investment teams. The San Mateo, CA-based company has more than 65 years of investment experience and over US$781 billion (over C$776 billion) in assets under management as of December 31, 2012.

Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. has more than 600 employees providing services to more than one million unitholder accounts and more than 200 pension funds, foundations and other institutional investors. Additional information on Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. can be found at www.franklintempleton.ca.

SOURCE: Franklin Templeton Investments Corp.

For further information:

Media contacts:

Sarah Kingdon, Corporate Communications, Franklin Templeton Investments, 416.957.6191

Debra Chan, Argyle Communications, 416.968.7311 ext. 229