A recent Bank of Nova Scotia poll found that while Canadians’ overall economic outlook is more optimistic, they are still hesitant when it comes to their personal investment strategies in the fluctuating economic environment.

Canadian optimism for the economy moved to 49%, up significantly from last year (39%). Despite the rise in optimism, 62% of Canadians viewed maintaining their current market position as the wiser investment strategy for the remainder of this year.

Additional findings on Canadians’ economic mindset include:

  • the top two factors having the greatest impact on Canadians’ decisions to add to their investments this year were the state of the economy (72%) and fluctuating market conditions (71%).
  • while economic optimism is up, 63% of Canadians say it’s a concern when it comes to their investments — unchanged from last year.
  • 29% looked to safer investment categories as their preferred financial strategy for the rest of this year.
  • when asked what their wisest investment strategy is for this year, only nine per cent of Canadians said they would increase their investment into the market, with men (13%) more likely than women (six per cent) to follow this approach.
  • Albertans (19%) are most likely to increase their investment into the market as part of a wise investment strategy.
  • when it comes to investing, older Canadians are more likely to agree that they are concerned about the fluctuating economy specifically among 45-54 years olds and 55+ year olds (66% each) as compared to Canadians between the ages of 18-34 years (54%).
  • 63% of Canadians cite risk of short term loss as having an impact on their investment decisions.

“With the increased volatility in global markets earlier this year and unpredictable developments going into 2013, it’s not surprising that many Canadians continue to take a more cautious approach to their investment decisions,” said Andrew Pyle, ScotiaMcLeod wealth advisor.

The Scotiabank Mega Poll was conducted through Harris/Decima’s telephone omnibus, teleVox from June 18 through 28, 2012. A total of 2,013 surveys were conducted nationally with Canadian respondents 18 plus years of age.