People may be saving more since Christmas bills have settled – but concerns over the coronavirus means uncertainty for investors.
Covid-19 has caused chaos in the stock markets and this volatility is set
to continue in the coming months.
But for those who are saving, issues such as human rights and climate change are driving their investments.
Bank of Ireland’s Savings and Investment Index for Q1 2020 revealed yesterday a total of 36% of people here regularly invested in the first three months of this year.
However, the percentage of those who felt they weren’t investing as
much as they would like to rose to 50% for the first time in nine months.
BOI spokesman Tom McCabe said: “Irish investor sentiment was stable
in the first quarter prior to the spike in market volatility that accompanied the spread of coronavirus. It is difficult to envisage anything but a drop in investor sentiment over the next few months.”
Before concerns over the coronavirus jumped dramatically in recent weeks, the number of people who were saving regularly rose in the first quarter of 2020, up from the second half of last year.
The percentage of those under 50 who were regularly saving rose from 51% to 55% and for those over 50 is shot up from 38% last year to 43% this year.
Mr McCabe: “The increase in the prevalence of regular saving was expected as people moved out of Christmas spending mode and into a New Year but the
fact 50% of Irish people were regularly saving in the quarter says a lot about the strength of the Irish economy.
“The response from Irish investors was very clear-cut across all demographics underlining how seriously they view issues like climate change, human rights and corporate governance.”
