Survey: Investors Split on Buying Cannabis Stock

A recent Go Banking Rates survey found that financiers are split on whether they would invest in the cannabis space, with 51 percent saying they would never invest in the space while 49 percent are already investing in the industry or are open to it.

Of the more than 800 investors surveyed, 9 percent were already actively investing in the industry but only 10 percent viewed it as a safe investment. If cannabis were to be legalized federally, the survey found a third of investors would consider investing, while another third said they would never back the industry regardless of legal status.

Investors aged 25 to 34 were most likely (13.48 percent) to already be invested in cannabis stocks, according to the survey, followed by investors aged 55 to 64 (10.49 percent); those aged 45 to 54 who were not currently investing in the space were the most open to it. Nearly 2 in 10 investors would be swayed to enter the space if recommended by a financial advisor.

Jon Vlachogiannis, the founder of wealth management product AgentRisk, described investing in the industry as “very volatile” and compared investing in a single cannabis stock “like playing Russian roulette.” In the survey, just 15 percent said cannabis stocks help to diversify portfolios but 42 percent described the space as “growing fast.”

Of those that would invest, most (20.5 percent) were comfortable with investing less than $100, while 15.7 percent would invest between $100 and $500, with 13 percent saying they’d invest $1,000 to $4,999 and 8.3 percent who would invest $5,000 or more.

The survey also found two-thirds support for federal cannabis legalization – which is consistent with the last two Gallup polls that asked the question.