2011 Household Balance Sheet Report

The 2011 edition of Investor Economics’ Household Balance Sheet Report is now available. This is the ninth edition of our flagship report, which was originally introduced in 1992. By engaging the powerful Household Balance Sheet framework, this report quantifies, monitors and predicts trends in the demand and supply of financial products and services. But the Household Balance Sheet Report is much more than merely a set of projections. The ultimate objective is to provide all financial services providers with the means to identify, measure and track the ideas and emerging themes that reveal potential growth opportunities, as well as competitive and financial challenges. More so than at any time in the past, getting ready for the future will require a careful consideration of the “big picture”. It is our belief that the financial needs, preferences and priorities of Canadian households are in the throes of a fundamental and ongoing transformation. A decade from now, this transformation, along with shifting demographics and expectations about economic and financial market conditions, will result in a profoundly different balance sheet. There will also be significant changes in the landscape of Canada’s financial services industry. Among the key themes examined in the 2011 Household Balance Sheet Report are: Deleveraging: How it will reshape the balance sheet and the marketplace Risk profile: Its future direction and the meaning for product and delivery channels Equities: The changing nature and makeup of equity ownership Demographics of wealth: Who controls wealth now and in the future Capital preservation, income and yield: The intersection of changing needs and the supply-side response Investment funds: How they can and must adapt to shifting market needs, opportunities and competitive assaults from ETFs and elsewhere Advice and self-reliance: Shifts in the delivery channel paradigm