Fund Investors Want Less Information, Poll Shows

Mutual fund investors overwhelmingly prefer summaries to full annual reports, according to a poll commissioned by the Investment Funds Institute of Canada, Canadian Business reports.

Eighty percent of the 1,865 people polled said they would prefer a two-page summary to a full annual report, while only 12% said they would prefer the annual report. Five percent said they would like to receive both.

Overall, investors in Canada said the industry is “doing quite well in terms of providing information and service to customers,” said Angela Marzolini, vice president at Pollara, which conducted the survey.

The survey also indicated that most Canadian investors prefer to buy funds through financial advisers, with 85% reporting this is how they have purchased funds and fully 85% saying they were satisfied with the advice they received. Only 11% went directly to a fund company to make a purchase.

However, this level of satisfaction is probably somewhat buoyed by recent strong performance in the markets, noted Joanne De Laurentiis, president of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

Investors were not totally happy with the fees they pay their advisers, however, with 18% saying they were not comfortable with their understanding of fees.