The latest online survey results from IAB South Africa and Effective Measure provide an insightful snapshot of South Africans’ current savings and investment behaviour. This is based on data captured from September through to October 2014, when 7 200 respondents visiting IAB South Africa publisher member sites completed the online survey. The survey asked for information about their current savings and investments, their intentions over the next three months and the sources of advice that guide their decisions.
The top three reasons for saving and investing are for emergencies, retirement and children’s education. What is clear, and of interest to the banking and investment industries is that the majority of the respondents rely on their own research, expert input and advice from those who know more than them to guide their savings and investment decisions.
This calls into question as to whether South African financial institutions are optimising on the opportunities to provide branded savings, investment advice and insights across digital platforms. With more than half the respondents making annual investments of less than R10 000, it is evident that there is a lot of potential to provide expert online content so that South Africans are guided to gain confidence and increase financial security from budding savings and investments.
