A recent survey found that safety from market volatility is one of the key reasons for investors to book a fixed deposit (FD). Nearly half of the respondents (over 44%) said they invested in an FD when they needed money within three years with total safety. Another 23% said they invested in an FD to park emergency funds to beat inflation.
The survey by Kuvera, an online investment and financial planning platform, surveyed around 1.6 million of its investors to understand the reasons behind the popularity of FDs among Indians.
Commenting on the survey findings, Gaurav Rastogi, co-founder of Kuvera, “FDs are quite popular among Indians and we set out to understand why it was so. Unsurprisingly, the simplicity of FDs and the safety it assures attract investors to FDs. It’s an effective method of protecting emergency funds from market volatility and a large segment of our investors agree.”
What SEBI found
In 2017, SEBI conducted a survey to understand investor behaviour. It found that more than 95% of households preferred to park their funds in fixed deposits, with only 10% preferring mutual funds and stocks. In fact, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the total bank deposits reached an all-time high of USD 2,242.775 billion in March 2022.
The survey by Kuvera found that more than one in five respondents turned to FD to park emergency funds while beating inflation. Around 12% of investors preferred an FD for its simplicity and familiarity and one in 10 invested in an FD for safety from market volatility.
“With the RBI increasing repo rates to beat inflation, now is a good time to invest in FDs and we will surely see a peak in FD investments. They are safe and offer guaranteed investments at fixed terms. This sense of safety and assurance attracts many of our investors to FDs, especially for those who have a low-risk appetite,” Rastogi added.