Investor appetite for emerging market (EM) opportunities was higher among SMSF investors than investors without an SMSF, according to Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
The “Goldman Sachs Asset Management Australian Retail Investor Survey” found of the 600 investors surveyed, 27 per cent had an SMSF.
Of that figure, 51 per cent said they were interested in learning more about emerging markets.
“Those people that have an SMSF are more interested than those that don’t have an SMSF in emerging markets,” GSAM managing director and head of third-party distribution for the Asia-Pacific (ex-Japan) Jessica Jones said.
“People with an SMSF have a much higher tolerance for risk.”
The research, released last month, also found a higher number of women (30 per cent) than men (25 per cent) had an SMSF.
Close to 40 per cent of investors said they were interested in learning more about emerging markets, with 46 per cent of investors not interested, and 15 per cent saying they were unsure whether they wanted to know more about the asset class.
The research also found about one-third of investors believed an increase in exposure to emerging markets would assist their investment returns.
Thirty-one per cent of investors said they expected higher returns if they invested in emerging markets, while 16 per cent said they expected no change to their investments if their exposure to the asset class was increased.
Nine per cent said an increase in exposure to emerging markets would bring with it low returns and 44 per cent said they were unsure what change an increase would bring.
“Almost one-third of investors thought that their returns would be higher if they added some EM exposure … but still there is an overwhelming knowledge gap where 44 per cent of those surveyed said they don’t know,” Jones said.
Colmar Brunton conducted the survey of 600 active investors through its online Investor Pulse panel.