Volatile markets don't have Canadians rethinking investments: CIBC poll

People walk the TSX sign in Toronto on Monday, January 4, 2016. (Nathan Denette/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

TORONTO -- Falling stock markets have not changed how most Canadian investors view their portfolios, a new poll suggests.

The online poll released Tuesday and conducted for CIBC found that 58 per cent of people surveyed say they're sticking with their long-term investment strategy despite the recent market volatility.

This compared with 18 per cent of investors polled who say they plan on taking on a more defensive strategy to protect their original investments, while five per cent say they plan on investing more aggressively to achieve higher returns.

Overall, 56 per cent said they did not achieve the returns they expected over the last year.

The survey also found that investor expectations vary greatly:

Another 26 per cent admit to not knowing how much of a return they need to reach their goals, the poll found.

The Toronto Stock Exchange has shed nearly two per cent since the start of the year.

The poll, conducted by Vision Critical, was based on an online sample of 1,003 adults between Jan. 20 and 22.

The polling industry's professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.