Leadership

42pc of investors say Ireland is in a depression

08.12.2009
Irish investors are less optimistic about an economic revival than their counterparts in the UK, with new research from UK stockbroker TD Waterhouse revealing that just 18pc of investors believe the Irish economy is recovering compared to 42pc who believe Ireland is in a depression.

This is compared to the sentiments of UK investors, with 37pc believing the UK economy is in recovery mode and just 20pc believing the economy is in a depression.

Interestingly, 36pc of both Irish and UK investors believe their economies are in a double-dip recession.

Confidence up on Irish stock market
The TD Waterhouse Investor Confidence Survey for 2009, which gathered the opinions of over 500 Irish investors for the first time, showed that despite holding less-than-optimistic views of the Irish economy 38pc of Irish investors surveyed said they felt more confident in the performance of the Irish stock market today compared to 12 months ago, with 44pc rating the poor housing market as a key driver of stock market investment.

The research also revealed that the sectors expected to perform best on the Irish stock market in the next few months are drugs and healthcare (56pc), energy and mining (40pc) and the banking sector (30pc).

Of the international markets Irish investors expect to perform best, the Asian stock market was the most popular choice (21pc), followed by the US stock market (17pc) and the European stock market (10pc).

Best-performing stocks
Looking back over the past 12 months, Irish investors rated banking (21pc), drugs and healthcare (14%) and energy and mining (11pc) as their best-performing stocks. However, it is interesting to note that 38pc of investors also noted the banking sector among their worst-performing stocks for 2009, followed by property (20pc), and insurance and IT and telecommunications (5pc respectively).

Meanwhile, in quite a natural development, more than half (55pc) of Irish respondents say they have adopted a more cautious approach to investing in the past 12 months, which compares to 45pc of UK investors. Just under half (48pc) of Irish investors are satisfied with the performance of their portfolio during the same period, compared with 60pc of UK investors.

Prudence is encouraging
“While the survey clearly shows that Irish investors feel that there is still some way to go before they’ll see any sign of an economic revival in Ireland, it is encouraging to note that they have still managed to be prudent with their investment decisions and continue to make profits despite adopting a cautious investment strategy this year,” said Angus Rigby, CEO of TD Waterhouse.

“General stock market volatility has certainly provided opportunities for Irish investors and it is also encouraging to see that many of those surveyed are willing to look overseas for their investment opportunities, with expectations that the Asian stock market will outperform other markets in the coming months," he added.