Canadians who are not currently investing say their lack of knowledge and confidence are a barrier to accessing financial information and advice, found a new national survey from the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC).

IIROC, with The Strategic Counsel, surveyed 2,000 Canadians, 500 of whom were "aspiring investors" (those who are interested in but are not currently investing). Based on the survey, most aspiring investors are over the age of 40 (68%) with a post-secondary education (70%). Nearly half (45%) are in the workforce and almost a third (30%) are retired.

The survey found that 49 per cent of aspiring investors don’t invest because they don't know enough about it; 60% are not confident in their ability to make investment decisions; 61% do not know the options available to them for getting investment information and advice and 65% do not know what investment products and services are available to them.

Investors have higher confidence

On the other hand, the survey found that those Canadians who are currently investing have much higher confidence with 80% express confidence in their ability to make investment decisions, compared to only 40% of aspiring investors.

The findings also revealed that 41% of aspiring investors do not think they have enough money to get advice from an advisor and 28% do not think they can afford to get advice. Among current investors, 23% do not think they have enough money to get advice from an advisor and 18% do not think they can afford to get advice.