Job security worries Filipino investors–ING

Majority of Filipino investors are worried about their jobs as companies are likely to defer expansion plans this year amid the global economic crisis, a Dutch investment bank reported.

In its Investor Dashboard Survey, ING Bank said about 53 percent of Philippine investors surveyed are worried about their job security amid the current global economic downturn.

Furthermore, an increasing number of local investors believe that the impact of the US economy, credit crunch and inflation will have a higher impact on their investment decisions going forward.

Compared with the rest of the region, investors in the Philippines—along with Thailand and New Zealand—say they will opt for a more conservative investment strategy that prioritizes capital preservation, ING said.

Cesar Zulueta, ING Bank Philippines managing director, said that as the impact of the global financial turmoil and economic crunch becomes more evident, “majority of Filipino investors are continuing to be more cautious in their investments even as they believe the economic situation would not get any worse.”

ING survey also showed that investors’ economic situation sentiment in the first quarter dropped to 11 percent from 25 percent while views on their household financial situation also declined from 31 percent to 23 percent.

For the second quarter, fewer Filipino investors believe that the economic condition will worsen and personal and household financial situations will improve.

However, majority of the respondents believe the economic crisis has bottomed out but they also believe that the economic situation will not improve any time soon.

The economy, as measured by gross domestic product, is expected to grow by only 3.1 percent to 4.1 percent this year, according to the government.

The ING survey said the investor confidence levels in the first quarter showed a further drop of 6 percent. Its index has been on a decline since the third quarter of last year, dropping to 89 percent for first quarter from 95 percent for fourth quarter last year.

The survey added that the confidence in the telecommunications and technology industry continued to decline among Filipino investors due to lower consumer demand.

“Investors have instead focused their attention on the agriculture sector, evidenced by the significant increase in confidence among Filipino investors that said sector would provide better prospects,” ING said.

The ING investor survey is the first quarterly survey in the Asia-Pacific region that provides investors sentiment index. It measures and tracks investor sentiment and behavior of mass affluent investors from 13 Asia Pacific markets including China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. –Darwin G. Amojelar, Senior Reporter, Manila Times