Article by ob体育 Deputy Chairman, Jeremy Cooper. (An edited version of this article was published in the聽Australian Financial Review聽on 22 February 2008).
We are nearly all retail investors. Because of compulsory superannuation, the vast聽majority of Australians, even if they don't think about it much, have some investment聽exposure and exercise investment choice.
In 1989, the collective net worth of retail investors was $1.2 trillion or 337 per cent of聽gross domestic product. In 2007, that had grown to $5.1 trillion or 485 per cent of聽GDP.
While the net worth of retail investors has been rising, their lot has become harder 鈥撀爐here are so many choices and today's financial products are complex.