TD survey reveals almost half don't know where
to start when it comes to Do It Yourself (DIY) investing
TORONTO, Sept. 26, 2019 /CNW/ - While the school year is
well underway, Canadians may want to consider going back to the
classroom to brush up on the basics of investing. According to a
recent TD survey, 41 per cent of Canadians don't know where to
start when it comes to investing. An even larger majority (58 per
cent) admit they don't know the difference between a mutual fund
and an exchange-traded fund (ETF), and 38 per cent are unclear
about the difference between a stock and a bond.
While those are not very encouraging statistics, fortunately,
October is Investor Education Month; an ideal time for
Canadians to focus on upgrading their investing knowledge and
skills.
"Canadians are ambitious about their financial futures – that's
evident in the conversations we have with our clients every day,"
says Paul Clark, President,
Direct Investing and EVP, TD Bank Group. "But there is a
disconnect between the number of investing tools currently
available and investor knowledge and confidence."
In fact, Canadians rank themselves poorly in several key areas
of investing:
- 55 per cent don't know how to make an investment trade
online
- 25 per cent don't believe that investing small amounts of money
can bring any benefits – and only 30 per cent know you can start
investing with less than $100
- Nearly 40 per cent (39 per cent) don't know where to find free
educational resources to help them with investing
When asked to rank their investing confidence level, only six
per cent of Canadians identified themselves as "rock star
investors." To help address this large gap, TD Direct Investing
recently launched Learning Centre, a centralized learning
hub filled with educational content, available via the WebBroker
platform. Learning Centre features an array of on-demand
videos, daily live and archived Master Class workshops, webinars
and reports.
"We wanted to create a one-stop, easy-to-navigate online
resource to help clients expand their investing knowledge, whether
they're just getting started or a seasoned pro," says Clark.
"Combined with the recent launch of GoalAssist,
Learning Centre is another example of how we're increasing
our focus on education to help empower clients to become confident
investors."
Canadians who fall short of making the grade when it comes to
DIY investing can find homework help from the TD Direct Investing
Learning Centre at any time of day and can also participate
in a number of educational events offered by TD Direct Investing
throughout Investor Education Month.
About the TD Direct Investing Investor Education
Survey
TD Bank Group commissioned Leger to conduct
an online survey of 1,500 Canadians, using Leger's online panel.
Responses were collected between March 20,
2019 and March 27, 2019. The margin of error for this
survey was +/-2.5%, 19 times out of 20.
About TD Bank Group
The Toronto-Dominion Bank
and its subsidiaries are collectively known as TD Bank Group ("TD"
or the "Bank"). TD is the fifth largest bank in North America by branches and serves over 26
million customers in three key businesses operating in a number of
locations in financial centres around the globe: Canadian Retail,
including TD Canada Trust, TD Auto Finance Canada, TD Wealth
(Canada), TD Direct Investing, and
TD Insurance; U.S. Retail, including TD Bank, America's Most
Convenient Bank®, TD Auto Finance U.S., TD Wealth
(U.S.), and an investment in TD Ameritrade; and Wholesale Banking,
including TD Securities. TD also ranks among the world's
leading online financial services firms, with more than 13 million
active online and mobile customers. TD had CDN$1.4 trillion in assets on July 31, 2019. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades
under the symbol "TD" on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges.
SOURCE TD Bank Group