KEY POINTS:
Over 70 per cent of New Zealand investors are forecasting that inflation will continue to worsen over the next three months, according to a survey by investment company ING.
Their latest Investor Dashboard Survey highlighted that although investor confidence has rallied over the previous quarter by around 10
per cent, more than half of those investors surveyed remain concerned that New Zealand's economy will continue to deteriorate during the next quarter.
The Asia Pacific-based survey showed a strong decline in investor sentiment in many countries, with China and the South East Asian markets showing considerable falls.
"Regionally, the global economic slowdown, rising commodity prices and internal political developments appear to be weighing down heavily on investors in Q2 2008. In New Zealand, although confidence has rallied somewhat, investors are still concerned about the impact the global credit crunch, rising inflation and volatile markets are having on the economy and their personal investment portfolios", said ING New Zealand investor services manager Steven Giannoulis.
"The kiwi investors we surveyed have continued to adopt the most conservative approach to investment of all the regions within the Asia Pacific region, with 42 per cent taking a low risk, long-term capital preservation view and 48 per cent taking a balanced strategy approach", he added.
Within the survey, key findings include:
* 68 per cent of New Zealand investors felt that the economic situation in New Zealand has deteriorated over the last quarter, with only 23 per cent thinking that it has improved;
* Looking ahead, more than half (53 per cent) forecast that New Zealand's economic situation will deteriorate over the next quarter, compared to only 28 per cent expecting to see an improvement;
* 52 per cent of investors surveyed said that the NZX will continue to decline over the next three months, with only 19 per cent forecasting an improvement over the same period;
* 37 per cent of investors said that their return on investment (ROI) has improved in Q2 2008;
* Looking ahead, more than a third (37 per cent) of investors remain positive forecasting that their ROI will continue to improve over the next quarter with only 19 per cent forecasting that they will see a decrease in their ROI;
* 36 per cent of investors felt that their personal financial situation has deteriorated over the past quarter, while 38 per cent thought it has improved;
* Looking ahead, almost a quarter (24 per cent) of investors are expecting their personal financial situation to deteriorate over the next quarter, although 44 per cent are expecting that they will see some improvement to their personal situation.
"We have seen New Zealand investors being weighed down recently on several fronts including falling house prices, high interest rates, rising inflation and oil prices", said Mr Giannoulis.
"On the other hand, the signs of improving investor confidence suggest the perceived effects of the credit crunch and global uncertainty may be lessening here."