About 37% of Belgians between the ages of 16 and 80 invest. This percentage is a bit higher than in the previous survey, conducted two years ago, when 34% invested[1]. Despite the growing popularity of ETFs, only 16% of investors hold these in their portfolio. These are but a few of the results of the FSMA’s Retail Investor Survey 2024.
In December 2024, the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), in cooperation with IPSOS, conducted an online survey of 1,500 Belgian investors. This is a representative sample (in terms of age, gender and region of residence) of the Belgian investor population between the ages of 16 and 80.
The survey defines investors as respondents who hold financial products other than savings accounts, term accounts, pension savings or class 21 products. The main findings of the survey are discussed below.
General profile of investors
About 37% of Belgians between the ages of 16 and 80 are investors. This percentage is a bit higher than the percentage of investors (34%) in the previous survey, conducted in 2022. In comparison with the Belgian population at large, investors are more often men, belong more often to the higher social classes (defined on the basis of income and occupational category) and are less likely to live in Wallonia. By contrast, investors’ age breakdown and family situation is comparable to that of the average population.
Six out of ten investors have a monthly net income of between 2,000 and 5,000 euros. Half of all investors saves a maximum of 400 euros per month. The survey also shows that almost 45% of investors in their twenties have an investment portfolio of a maximum value of 10,000 euros. Half of all investors under the age of 40 have a portfolio of a maximum value of 20,000 euros[2].
Portfolio composition
Savings accounts, pension savings, investment funds and listed shares are the most popular instruments among investors. 85% of investors have a savings account, a little more than half have pension savings, 38% invest via investment funds and a little more than one-third invest in listed shares. Despite the growing popularity of ETFs (see, for example, the FSMA Retail Investor Dashboard), only 16% of investors include these in their portfolio.
An investor’s age determines what types of instruments are held in the portfolio. Younger people invest more often in crypto (more than 40% of those in their twenties and thirties own cryptos), ETFs and derivatives, while those over 50 invest more often in class 21 and class 23 products, investment funds and listed shares. As investors grow older, the participation rate in pension savings also increases. Although a significant number of younger people invest in crypto, ownership of the latter remains limited in absolute terms. More than 40% of cryptocurrency investors have an investment portfolio with a total value of less than 10,000 euros, and 54% have less than 20,000 euros[3].
Financial literacy and knowledge
As part of the survey, investors were asked to rate their own financial knowledge. In addition, investors took a standardized financial literacy test with questions about diversification, inflation, fixed versus variable interest rates and the difference in risk between bonds and shares. While 75% of investors correctly estimated the impact of inflation on purchasing power, a bit more than half of all investors were aware of the differences in risk between shares and bonds. 60% of investors is sufficiently familiar with the concept of diversification. The latter result is in line with the findings obtained during the webinar devoted to the FSMA’s 2023 Annual Report[4].
Approximately a quarter of investors gave the correct answer to all the questions. Two-thirds of all investors who rate their knowledge to be ‘sufficient to high’ answered at least 3 of the 4 questions correctly. Investors in that group seem to assess their knowledge more or less correctly; so there is no evidence of overconfidence. Investors who rated their financial knowledge as ‘low to none’ seem to underestimate their abilities: 70% of the investors in this group answered at least half of the questions correctly.
About 60% of investors rate their own knowledge as ‘sufficient or ‘high’. Young people are more cautious and consider their financial knowledge (wrongly) to be lower, while those in their 60s rate their financial knowledge the highest. Lastly, men seem to score higher on the financial literacy test than women. Of course, it should be noted that the standardized test cannot evaluate all aspects of financial knowledge adequately.
Young people and the stock market
Younger investors are more familiar with the KID (Key Information Document) and the European ESG classification (in Article 6, 8 and 9 funds) than older ones. The KID is familiar to a little more than 60% of investors under 30 (and about 50% of all investors) who invest in a product for which a KID is available. Knowledge about the EU’s ESG classification, in turn, seems closely linked to the age of the investor. 80% of investors in their twenties are familiar with it, which is substantially higher than among investors in their fifties (34%) or in their seventies (18%).
Younger investors also tend to consult a wider range of information sources when they make investment decisions. Their main information sources include news reports on the provider’s online environment or app, hard data (such as historical price data, press releases, half-yearly or annual reports), the prospectus or KID, or via general searches on the internet or social media, and from family and friends. Older investors, by contrast, rely mainly on the advice of a professional (such as a banker or accountant), on information available via the mainstream press or do no investment research at all.
These findings indicate that young people generally have a good understanding of important financial concepts and inform themselves thoroughly when making investment decisions.
Sustainability and ESG
Almost 70% of investors are familiar with the concept of sustainable investment. The rate is somewhat higher among men than among women. Investors under the age of 50 and women, in particular, consider sustainability to be important.
Investors indicate that when it comes specifically to sustainable investment, they attach particular value to information about the real impact of such investments on society and the environment and about the performance of sustainable investments as compared to other investments. Moreover, investors wish to be informed about which sustainable investment products are available on the market.
[1] The difference is statistically significant.
[2] The questions concerning income and/or portfolio size were not answered by all respondents (about 10% did not answer these questions). The values indicated here (for these questions more than for the others) are therefore estimates.
[3] The investment portfolio here includes the value of all shares held in the portfolio, and not only crypto-assets.