European savers are looking to the post-pandemic investment prospects trying to learn from what happened during the pandemic emergency. Furthermore, as emerges from theultima survey di Natixis Investment Managers, the post-pandemic brings with it a growing divergence in long-term return expectations among investors and financial professionals. The survey – conducted on investors with more than $ 100,000 in investable assets – found that a high percentage is optimistic given the double-digit returns obtained in 2020 and therefore for 2021 they expect annual returns of 13% above. inflation. However, financial professionals worldwide have a much more conservative bias and their expectations are around 5.3% above inflation.
The fears of Italian investors
The survey shows that over half of European investors (53%) suggest they are willing to take risks. In Italy this percentage is slightly higher and equal to 57.3%. Almost seven out of ten Italians (66%) classify a market fluctuation of 10% upward or downward as a normal event, while 55.5% believe that volatility creates opportunities for their wealth growth.
However, three quarters (76%) of investors in Europe place safety ahead of investment performance. In Italy, the percentage exceeds 81%, with less than half (48.8%) believing that volatility compromises their savings and investment objectives. This may explain why, despite the potential opportunities, volatility is a major concern when it comes to risks (39%), along with slow economic recovery (44.5%) and political dysfunctions (32%).
The prospects before and after Covid
Six out of ten respondents say they have not had any impact from Covid-19. The financial perspective was also supported by average returns on investments 11.2% above inflation (11.6% for Italy). As a result, only 11% of Europeans believe they experienced a significant deterioration in their financial security during the pandemic, the lowest number in all other geographies.
In addition to risk concerns, investors also share a broad spectrum of financial concerns. When asked to sort out their greatest fears, respondents in Europe highlighted large unanticipated expenses (30%) at the top of the list. This type of contingency was what worried investors most as early as 2019, but the current environment has exacerbated the financial insecurities of many of them. In Italy, unforeseen large expenses are in second place in the list of investors’ fears, behind concerns related to tax aspects (37.5%) and in front of job security (27.3%).
Certainly important lessons have been learned from the pandemic. When asked what they had learned, most answered how to address key personal finance issues. Almost two fifths (39%) say they have learned the importance of keeping your expenses under control, while 23% say they have learned the importance of avoiding emotional investment decisions and having an emergency savings account (20%).
On the same wavelength, Italian investors who first of all made their own the lesson of keeping their expenses under control (45.5%) and understood the importance of not being guided by emotion in investment choices (35.3 %).