PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The coronavirus pandemic sent financial markets into a tailspin, but a new survey found Philadelphians are starting to feel confident in their investments again.
WSFS surveyed people aged 35 to 75 in the greater Philadelphia region, including the suburbs, South Jersey and Delaware, who had investable assets ranging from $250,000 to $5 million. According to the online questionnaire, respondents say they have weathered the market fluctuations caused by the pandemic.
However, the results show they also have a new appreciation for risk.
“They’re even somewhat a little bit more bullish than I thought they would be at this point,” said Kelly Wellborn, president and managing executive of Cypress Capital Management, a subsidiary of WSFS Financial Corporation. “They’ve seen some of their investments come back from the very lows in March, and they’re ready to get involved in investing again.”
Wellborn said there was a surprisingly significant gap, in terms of investing attitudes, between men and women.
“Seventy percent of men are confident in their abilities to invest, and just 30% of the women are,” she said. “That’s kind of enlightening, but also disturbing in the same realm.”
The survey also found a significant number of younger investors — 35- to 44-year-olds — are directing money back into the markets.
“They have a longer time horizon, and I think one of the things that may give them some confidence is that they haven’t lived through as many downturns in the market as older investors have,” Wellborn explained.
She said younger investors are also attracted to the markets because of their embrace of technology.
“In the old days, you had to call a broker for everything,” she said. “Now, people can do it themselves.”
Although two-thirds agreed “life is riskier” now, the same amount also said their risk tolerance is roughly the same as it was prior to COVID-19.
Despite the setbacks from the pandemic, 30% of respondents say they plan to increase their investments, while 45% say they plan to increase their level of investing while also conserving some cash.