Investors prefer investing in mutual funds and FDs over other financial instruments, finds an online survey titled ‘Perception study on Financial Independence’ conducted by Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance.
Close to 1,100 participants responded to the online survey conducted to celebrate the Independence Day. The study aims to understand what financial independence means to people and if life insurance is a contributor to achieve financial freedom.
The survey found that almost half of the respondents i.e. 45% of the total respondents said that they had invested in mutual funds. Similarly, fixed income followed mutual funds with 40% respondents putting their money in it.
Experts say that the increased awareness about mutual funds and the convenience of investing through SIPs is driving the investor appetite for mutual funds.
Surprisingly, real estate or property followed financial investment with 31% of the respondents investing in it.
Direct equity, which is mostly preferred by well-informed investors, saw interest from only 23% of respondents.
The study also showed that 34% of respondents prefer a balanced portfolio comprising of risky, moderately risky and safe instruments to achieve financial freedom. While over 50% of the investors cited attractive returns as their primary expectation from investments, a quarter of the respondents gave safety of principal as the reason to invest.
Only a fraction of retail investors does not prefer investing in risky instruments. These investors say that they will lose money from investments if they put money in such instruments. However, 64% of investors who have invested in risky instruments have not lost money, finds the report.
