Investors are being hampered in meeting their retirement goals by fears caused by the tumultuous markets of recent years, a new survey finds.

A survey commissioned by the Durable Portfolio Construction Research Center at Natixis Global Asset Management finds that over half of investors are limiting what they invest due to fear of losing money, and 58 per cent are prepared to take on only “minimal investment risk.”

On the other hand, investors are worried about missing their retirement goals and outliving their assets: four in five respondents to the survey are worried about retirement while 77 per cent are concerned about outliving their assets.

The survey covered 702 individual investors in the US and was conducted in May and June by CoreData Research.

A clear majority (71 per cent) said volatility had shaken their confidence in the markets, and roughly the same number said they expected lower returns in the future than in the past. Only 28 per cent were “highly confident” their portfolio could cope with volatility and, perhaps due to this, 57 per cent are not reducing their cash investments.

Despite these fears Natixis – which has recently launched its center focused on durable portfolio construction – said investors are willing to take a new approach to investing, and that three-quarters of investors think the old 60/40 rule is outdated. Particularly, the survey found they want to hold non-correlated investments and investments beyond bonds and equities. At the time of the survey 39 per cent of respondents held alternative assets. More investors (48 per cent) said they had little or no understanding of alternatives, and 64 per cent said they would need to know more before investing in them.

Meanwhile, in the current climate, investors are interested in having these discussions – about risk and ways to manage it – with their advisor, Natixis said. Investors are also more willing than ever before to talk to their advisor about their expectations, the survey found.

“Financial advisors have an important role to play in educating their clients about how to build durable portfolios that can smoothly navigate this risk and volatility, perform in both up and down markets and help investors achieve their goals for retirement," said John Hailer, the firm’s chief executive in the Americas and Asia.