TNS Infratest puts investment decisions under the spotlight on behalf of Deutsche Brse
More than two thirds of investors say that low costs are a key factor when making investment decisions, the only more important factor being the security investment products offer. Just under 73 percent attach great importance to security when making investment decisions. Criteria such as growth prospects or strong historical performance are only considered as very important by 63% and 49%, respectively. These are the results of a study carried out by TNS Infratest on behalf of Deutsche Brse.
The keenness of investors to keep costs low is also reflected in their disposal decisions. More than half of those surveyed say that they only want to buy into investment funds at a reduced, or with absolutely no, front-end load. Only around 6% of investors disregard the amount of the front-end load when they make their investment decisions.
When trading in the 3,300 and more funds via the stock exchange, there is no front-end load, which can normally amount to five percent or more depending on the fund. On balance, investors can therefore save up to 70% on costs after bank charges, spreads and broker commissions when they trade in funds via the stock exchange.
Fund trading via the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is a clever alternative for cost-conscious investors, says Rainer Riess, member of the Management Board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Managing Director Cash Market Development at Deutsche Brse. And costs will fall even further as of 1 December, when fund trading is converted to Xetra. This will mean no more broker commissions and we predict a narrowing of spreads. The conversion to Xetra on the Frankfurt certificates exchange Scoach has already shown how this electronic trading system can really help to narrow spreads.
In the first three quarters of this year, fund units valued at 3.8 billion were traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. As of 1 December, fund trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange will combine fast and low-cost trading via Xetra with the advantages of floor trading.
To perform the study, TNS carried out a CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviewing) survey of more than 500 German investors at the beginning of November.
D.C.