LUXEMBOURG – A survey carried out by Crédit Agricole Indosuez Luxembourg looking at the values and beliefs of European investors, and whether culture influences financial decision making, reveals that that 38% of Europeans believe stocks are the best long term investment, with 43% of Germans saying that investing is fun.

The Germans also consider themselves to be more competent in financial decision-making, whilst the French are more likely to go for ethical investment strategies, the report says.

Property tops the asset class list, since a European investor would place as much as a third in real estate if given €1m to invest. The rest would be divided equally among savings accounts, stocks and bonds.

The results of the survey also suggest that money buys happiness in France but not Germany, though a drop of 10% in wealth would hurt a German more than a Frenchman; Italians are less likely to accept responsibility for success or failure, while the British do not like the privatisation of state owned enterprises.

Belgium, France, Germany, Italy , Spain and the United Kingdom provided the universe from which 3,000 respondents answered a 237 point questionnaire.
The survey’s authors, Patrick Zurstrassen and Werner de Bondt, believe that the results give a “fascinating psychological portrait” of investors in Europe.

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