ING DIRECT reminds Canadians that long-term investing can be easy

Angus Reid Survey finds the majority of Canadians are unfamiliar with index funds

TORONTO, June 8 /CNW/ - Are Canadians missing a straightforward investment opportunity?

An Angus Reid poll, commissioned by ING DIRECT, found that only one in three Canadians are familiar with index funds* (6% of Canadians say they are very familiar with index funds, another 27% only somewhat familiar.) The poll, conducted in May, explored Canadians' knowledge of index funds and their investment choices for the long term.

The Angus Reid poll also found:

    
    -   Canadians' most popular mutual fund investments are in Balanced Funds
        (55%), followed by Equity Funds (stocks) (40%), Money Market Funds
        (28%), Fixed Income Funds (bonds) (22%), and then Market Index Funds
        (15%).

    -   Of those who do not invest in Index Funds, 32% said it was because
        they didn't know enough about them.
    

"Studies have shown that the majority of actively managed funds can't consistently outperform the same indexes they benchmark themselves against," said Peter Aceto, President & CEO at ING DIRECT Canada.

ING DIRECT offers a diversified solution to help Canadians with their long-term investment plans with The Streetwise Funds(R).

"Investing does not need to be complicated. Diversifying and investing regularly with realistic expectations is a solid financial strategy," said Aceto.

The Streetwise Funds from ING DIRECT are balanced index funds with investments spread across four major stock and bond market indexes. And because The Streetwise Funds use an index-based approach, they keep costs down with a low 1% MER compared to an average 2.6% MER that Canadians pay for the average balanced fund.

The Streetwise Funds provide Canadians with an easy solution of fully diversified portfolios with exposure to stocks and bonds from Canada, the US and international markets, and can all be purchased easily online, or on the phone.

The Streetwise Funds offer long term growth potential on investments with diversified, straightforward, low cost balanced index mutual funds. The funds' investments are spread across four major Stock and Bond Market indexes: Canadian Bonds (DEX Universe Bond Index), Canadian Stocks (S&P/TSX 60), US Stocks (S&P 500) and International Stocks (MSCI EAFE).

To find out more about The Streetwise Funds, visit www.streetwisefunds.ca which includes details about The Streetwise Funds performance, Asset Classes, and its indexes. In addition to the phone and the internet, Clients can access The Streetwise Funds on their mobile devices or download ING DIRECT's App free for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch at the App Store or itunes.com/appstore or BlackBerry App at m.ingdirect.ca on their BlackBerry devices or by visiting BlackBerry App World(TM) at BlackBerry.com/appworld.

* An index fund's value is linked to the weighted average daily price of a collection of stocks and bonds that are selected to reflect the performance of the overall financial markets. These kinds of funds are simple to follow: if the market goes up, the market linked indexed mutual fund would go up, too.

Angus Reid Public Opinion - Survey Methodology - From May 7 to May 10, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 1,005 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Angus Reid Forum panelists. The margin of error - which measures sampling variability - is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Canada.

Angus Reid Public Opinion polls are conducted using the Angus Reid Forum online panel (www.angusreidforum.com), which is recruited via an industry-leading process that incorporates a randomized, widespread invitation approach and a triple opt-in screening procedure. The panel is maintained through state-of-the-art sampling techniques and frequent verifications of personal identity, contact information, and demographic characteristics. This premier online survey platform presents respondents with highly visual, interactive, and engaging surveys, ensuring that panel members provide thoughtful and reliable responses.

About ING DIRECT

ING DIRECT is Canada's leading direct bank with over 1.6 million Clients and more than $29 billion in total assets. ING DIRECT gives the power of saving to all Canadians by offering high-value, simple products such as high interest savings accounts with no fees or service charges, and low rates on mortgages. Low cost, index based mutual funds are sold through ING Direct Funds Limited. ING DIRECT has been operating in Canada since 1997, and paid more than $4 billion in interest to Clients. ING DIRECT is open for banking 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at ingdirect.ca, on mobile devices at m.ingdirect.ca or by calling 1-800 ING DIRECT (1-800-464-3473).

The Streetwise Funds are offered by ING Direct Asset Management Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of ING Bank of Canada.

Follow Peter Aceto on Twitter at: Twitter.com/CEO_INGDIRECT

And find ING DIRECT at: Facebook.com/SuperStarSaver; Twitter.com/SuperStarSaver; YouTube.com/SuperStarSaver

Style note to Editors: ING DIRECT is always capitalized and never referred to as ING.

For further information: Media Relations Contacts: Lynnette Visaya, [phone] or [email protected]; Joanne Ingrassia, [phone] or [email protected]