NZ investor confidence drops to Covid lows

Net investor confidence slipped to 1% in the June quarter. Photo / Getty Images

The ASB Investor Confidence Survey fell to its lowest level in the June quarter since the Covid pandemic.

Net investor confidence – the difference between those who think investment returns will improve versus worsen in the coming year – dropped from 9% in the March quarter to 1% in the June quarter.

Aucklanders were the most positive, with a net 10% expecting returns to improve in the coming year.

ASB senior economist Chris Tennent-Brown said the survey reflects a range of global and domestic pressures.

“It’s been a challenging six months, with markets affected by uncertainty around tariffs and global issues, alongside concerns at home, such as the housing market, which hasn’t bounced back the way people expected it to.

“This has led to a more pessimistic tone in overall investor confidence, which seems to be suffering from the same weak sentiment we’re seeing in consumer confidence.”

The survey shows general confidence is highest among those under 39 years old, with those over 60 the least optimistic.

More than half (51%) said they were very concerned about the impact of global political instability or uncertainty on investments, while 47% felt this way about international geopolitical tension and conflict and 43% about international trade policies, including tariffs.

Half of those who had concerns had made, or considered making, changes to their investments as a result.

“These global issues were really impacting many investments around April in a negative way, but subsequently markets have improved a lot and are now knocking around record highs in the case of the US sharemarket,” Tennent-Brown said.

“Understandably, global issues are still weighing on Kiwi investors’ minds and there is still a lot of uncertainty both here and abroad.”

Tennent-Brown said the second quarter highlighted the importance of sticking with long-term strategies and savings goals, rather than chopping and changing to try and time markets.