IRISH INVESTORS ARE now positive about Ireland’s future, according to RaboDirect’s Investor Barometer.

The measure, which has been tracking investor sentiment since April 2010 has, for the first time, recorded a positive in this regard.

The barometer is based on the responses of 413 RaboDirect customers who held investment accounts as of January 2013.

(Investor sentiment as per the RaboDirect Investor Barometer – Zero to 100 signals a negative sentiment. 100 to 200 signals a positive sentiment.)

The results also showed that 55 per cent of people were confident about the outlook for the Irish economy over the next three months.

There was a greater confidence shown (at 64 per cent) in relation to the global economy over the same three month period.

Financial situation

When asked whether they were confident about their own financial situation over the next three months, 76 per cent were, a drop of two percentage points on last September.

While their own personal confidence dropped slightly, 80 per cent of investors responded that they saw value in holding stocks, compared to 72 per cent in September 2012.

Assets

Where assets were concerned, the preference of respondents were as follows:

• 51 per cent preferred equities
• 25 per cent preferred cash
• 20 per cent preferred bonds
• Three per cent preferred property

Preferred markets to invest in

When asked where investors were most likely to invest, the breakdown was as follows:

• 42 per cent in emerging markets
• 20 per cent in the US
• 19 per cent in Europe
• 19 per cent in Asia

While noting the upbeat nature of Irish investor confidence, investment manager at RaboDirect Killian Nolan said that “ongoing austerity measures in Ireland are taking their toll in terms of how investors view their personal finances”.

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