Majority of Canadians are ‘more comfortable’ with an advisor: poll

A majority of Canadians (80%) feel “confident” about their finances — and yet relatively few are confident about investing, according to a survey from BMO InvestorLine.

The online survey, which polled 1,000 adult Canadians from Oct. 12 to Oct. 22, found that only 29% said they were “very knowledgeable” about investing. More than half of respondents (53%) said investing made them feel “stressed.”

Due to their unease about investing, 55% of respondents said they have a financial advisor because they feel “more comfortable” receiving professional advice.

When it comes to advice, the poll found that investors have a growing awareness of robo-advice. Just over half (51%) said they were “slightly/somewhat” familiar with robo-advisors.

Millennial respondents led the pack of tech-savvy savers, with 86% saying they use technology to help manage their savings and investments, compared to 78% of gen-X respondents and 50% of baby boomers.

“Despite the variation in adoption among age groups, it is clear that overall adoption of digital investing is gaining momentum,” Silvio Stroescu, president of BMO InvestorLine, said in a statement.

The survey was conducted by Parameter Insights on behalf of BMO InvestorLine. Online surveys can’t be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population. This survey was weighted using Census data to provide a more accurate representation.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.