ING investor confidence hits highest mark in more than 3 years

Investor confidence has reached the highest point since January 2018, according to ING. Two-thirds of investors expect the economic situation in the Netherlands to improve over the next three months. Confidence was rather low in cryptocurrencies, but high in the economy and stable traditional investments.

If investors were given a large sum of money now, half of them would not continue their current methods, and a fifth said they would make changes to their approach. About 38% state they would mainly invest this money in real estate, and 34% would invest in an index or investment funds. Three in ten investors would in that case invest even more in the Netherlands, and 27% would invest more in other European countries.

More than half of investors indicated that they would not dare to invest in cryptocurrencies. Among those who would, a small portion would invest because they really believe in cryptocurrencies. The rest stated they would participate wherever they thought significant returns could be generated.

Three quarters of all investors saw the value of their own investment portfolio rise and two thirds also expect a rise in value in the coming months. The percentage of investors expecting a decline in the value of their portfolio has declined from 9 to 7%, according to Bob Homan from the ING Investment Office.

"I can't remember seeing such a low percentage before. The number of investors who expect a decline in the investment portfolio often increases somewhat after a period of sharply rising prices such as now," said Homan.

Investors' views on investing in risky sectors have not changed since May. Almost half of the investors believed this was a good time to invest in industries considered chancy.

Investors said they only rarely switched brokerages, and a quarter have never done so at all. However, it was becoming more common to compare different brokerages.