The Australian Stock Exchange estimates that 54% of adult Australians now hold shares directly (including through personally managed superannuation funds); in 1991, this figure was 22%. This trend reflects the programs of privatisation and demutualisation in Australia in the 1990s.
As indicated by our survey, households that allocated part of their remittances for investments, increased from 2.3% in 2007 to only 6.5% in the first quarter this year. That is over a period of nearly nine years! For institutions, the challenge is to develop and promote products suited to the needs of OFs.