In its January 2016 retail investor survey, ING Belgium has collected views of Belgian investors on crowdfunding as an alternative investment.
Peter Vanden Houte, chief economist at ING Belgium, reports that crowfunding platforms slowly gain popularity among local retail investors with half of them saying they understand what lies under the concept of crowdfunding.
Some 32% of the investors surveyed said crowdfunding is to become an important source of funding for Belgian companies in the near future.
However, only 6% have already used a crowdfunding platform.
Belgian investors interviewed consider crowfunding a fund investment rather than a sponsoring as 71% of them said they expect returns if they are to make investments on dedicated platforms.
Moreover, Vanden Houte observes that nine in ten investors surveyed are expecting money as returns.
Average returns of 5% are anticipated by investors when making a crowdfunding investment.
The survey suggests most Belgian investors do not see the difference between traditional and crowdfunding investments, ING Belgium’s chief economist says.
According to 44% of all investors surveyed, crowdfunding investments are as risky as investing in equities. Some 12% answered it is less risky and 4% much less risky.
That feeling remains strong among younger investors with 69% of them assessing risk is equal between crowdfunding and equity investments.
