Strong economy boosts financial confidence


Strong personal savings and a positive economic outlook have seen financial comfort levels shoot to new highs, according to a survey.
Despite the increasing cost of living, the bulk of Australians (56.9 per cent) say they are either ‘very comfortable' or ‘comfortable' with their financial situation, annual Mortgage Choice research has found.
Just 3.6 per cent said they were ‘very worried' about their financial situation, while 18.7 per cent said they were ‘a little worried'.
High savings levels could be partially responsible for the high levels of financial comfort, with a third of the 1015 surveyed consumers reportedly saving around 15 per cent of their income.
Mortgage Choice spokeswoman Jessica Darnbrough said there is a direct correlation between financial certainty and savings.
"The more they have in savings, the more comfortable and confident they feel," she said.
The state of the economy was also attributed to the financial positivity, with more than 55 per cent of surveyed consumers expecting a strong 2014.
Recommended for you
Lonsec and SQM Research have highlighted manager selection as a crucial risk for financial advisers when it comes to private market investments, particularly due to the clear performance dispersion.
Macquarie Asset Management has indicated its desire to commit the fast-growing wealth business in Australia by divesting part of its public investment business to Japanese investment bank Nomura.
Australia’s “sophisticated” financial services industry is a magnet for offshore fund managers, according to a global firm.
The latest Morningstar asset manager survey believes ETF providers are likely to retain the market share they have gained from active managers.