Young black Africans dominate the FNB’s invested community, the bank’s research show

The profile of First National Bank’s (FNB) invested community is fast changing, with young and educated black Africans taking the lead.

This is a positive move which bodes well for the country that is trying so hard to stimulate a culture of savings among its citizens.

The FNB savings/investment book shows that black Africans are leading with 57%, White on 28%, Asians at 8% and Coloureds at 7%.

The average age of investors is now 40 years, compared to 50 years in 2003 when the Whites were leading the rest by 50%. Blacks are the youngest invested with an average age of between 25 and 34 and they are more educated that their white counterparts.

“In order to inspire the local household to save we have come up with innovative, unique, simpler and more affordable wealth creation vehicles that can be accessed by everyone and the results show that our strategy is working” says Robert Keip, Head of Investments at FNB.

Keip said the increase in the number of people investing was because more and more people were now realising the need to save.

The research shows that retirement is the biggest savings priority for all income groups. Despite this increase in people saving for retirement, many surveys still show only about 6% of South Africans will have insufficient savings for their retirement.

However, the majority of blacks and coloured are more likely to prioritise saving for their children than anything else.

Notice deposits and Money Market accounts are growing in popularity because of the flexibility they have in accessing money invested in them.