Investor confidence 'fragile but improving' The Global Investor Confidence Study, by TD Direct Investing and YouGov, is now in its sixth year and is hoping to reach more expats than before to find out how they really feel about investing and saving in the current economic climate. The online poll is now open and results are due in spring 2012. Last year, almost half of people polled (45 per cent) said they were "very confident" about their investments. The Global Investor Confidence Study not only asks for views on investment confidence, but also how current economic events are affecting people's confidence levels in everyday life. We are interested to know what makes them confident generally and even, what pop stars and sports stars they would choose to invest in if they could. John Greenwood, CEO at Creechurch Capital, said that despite "fearful" investors, a shift in the market has led to opportunities too good to miss. "The shift in the market has resulted in extreme valuations - in terms of UK gilts, which are by far the worst risk-adjusted investment proposition," he said. It's also created an under-value in equities and more noticeably in corporate bonds, which are pricing in default levels that are simply not going to happen. He predicts that expats will embrace long-term strategies for their investments in 2012, such as equity investments. "Assuming equity investments are correctly allocated to ensure that volatility can be absorbed, it's difficult to argue against current UK valuations levels," Mr Greenwood said. 2012 could see the start of the correction of the current gilt vs UK equity market relative valuations.