Sweden's new investment savings account (Investeringssparkonto) is attracting little attention from regular savers, according to a survey by Nordnet.
Sweden’s new investment savings account (Investeringssparkonto) is attracting little attention from regular savers, according to a survey by Nordnet.
Just 3% of roughly 1,000 people surveyed said they would use the new account, which is launching in the New Year. It has previously been dubbed a “Christmas present for investors” according to Sweden’s Financial Markets minister Peter Norman (pictured).
However, Avanza Bank, commenting on the Nordnet findings, said that there is little interest in this particular “gift”: 83% of Swedes surveyed stated that they had not even heard of the account. Of those that claimed they had heard of it, 37% were unable to correctly explain what the account does.
Of of those who were able to correctly explain the account, 30% still did not understand that it is intended to simplify savings.
“This risks becoming an account for the few rather than the many,” Avanza reports Jan Dinkelspiel, head of Nordnet in Sweden saying.
The survey also found that older investors are more interested in the account than younger ones – but that even in the older age bracket there is generally little interest in it.
“The older investors have read up but are not interested in the account. Instead, it will become yet another product attracting middle aged men,” Dinkelspiel said. He added that the industry needs to properly inform investors about the account to avoid it becoming a fiasco.
