‘Safety first’ investments preferred by majority

Only 10 per cent of Austrians focus on increasing their assets when making investments, according to a survey.One in 10 of the 1,000 Austrians interviewed by research agency Spectra said their chief priority is making a profit when it comes to choosing how to invest their money.Almost seven out of 10 Austrians (67 per cent) said knowing that their money was safe mattered most to them.Building loan contracts were found to be the most popular form of investing private assets (53 per cent) ahead of saving accounts at 52 per cent.Only 25 per cent of Austrians acquired houses or apartments as a form of investment, according to the poll. Life insurance contracts are preferred by 23 per cent, down by 13 per cent compared to a study carried out in March 2007.Austrians save an average 165 Euros a month, according to a survey by opinion research company IMAS conducted in October 2010. The agency said this was 9.8 per cent of the money people had available.News that most Austrians favour a “safety first” approach regarding money investment options comes just weeks after opinion pollster Karmasin found that 62 per cent have less trust in banks now than one year ago.