Nearly seven out of ten (69%) Romanian individual investors state that they lack confidence in the outlook for the Romanian economy a slight increase from the 68% recorded at the end of the second quarter of this year, according to the latest Retail Investor Beat survey.
According to the cited source, a larger number of investors now view the state of the Romanian economy as the primary external risk to their portfolios an increase of 3 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. Specifically, 25% of respondents cited inflation as one of the major external risks to their portfolios, 24% pointed to the state of the Romanian economy (including a potential recession), and 21% identified the state of the global economy.
Regarding income and the standard of living, the survey also indicates a decline in confidence.
In the third quarter of 2026, 62% of Romanian individual investors expressed confidence regarding their income and standard of living down from 63% in the previous quarter and well below the 66% recorded at the end of last year. This marks the lowest level since the survey began three years ago. Regarding job security, the latest survey shows confidence holding steady at 70% among respondents also a three-year low, the cited source notes.
In return, Romanian individual investors have increased their confidence in their own investment portfolios.
Thus, 77% of respondents reported confidence in their own portfolios, compared to 73% in the previous quarter. Regarding portfolio allocation, 51% hold crypto-assets, 49% hold local stocks, 41% hold foreign stocks, and 40% hold local bonds, while nearly 72% maintain cash holdings, including in savings accounts.
According to the research, in the previous quarter for the first time in three years less than half (42%) of Romanian investors held crypto-assets in their portfolios, most likely due to the drop in Bitcoin's price, whereas its recent rise to over $80,000 has drawn some investors back into the crypto-asset market.
The majority of respondents intend to maintain or increase their investments over the next three months.
When asked whether they intend to increase their investments during this period, 42% of Romanian individual investors answered in the affirmative, while 50% stated that they would make no changes. Only 8% of investors plan to reduce their exposure.
In terms of asset classes, foreign equities rank first among the preferences of investors looking to increase their holdings.
These were cited by 18% of respondents, followed by liquid assets including savings accounts (15%) crypto-assets (14%), Bucharest Stock Exchange shares (13%), alternative investments such as real estate and private equity (9%), and foreign currencies (8%). Interest in government bonds fell to 6% from 10% in the previous quarter a trend the authors of the release most likely attribute to uncertainty surrounding announcements regarding Romania's credit rating.
By sector, technology ranks first in terms of intentions to increase investment.
Thus, 18% of Romanian investors intend to increase their investments in technology, followed by energy and financial services at 15% each utilities (9%), and real estate (8%).
The latest Retail Investor Beat report was based on a survey of 11,000 individual investors across 13 countries and three continents. In Romania, 600 investors were surveyed. The survey was conducted between August 13 and August 28, 2026, by the research firm Opinium.
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