"Conservative" Poles shun insurance and keep 80% of savings in the bank

Poles appear to be very conservative as far as keeping their money safe is c oncerned. Still today, 12 years after the world's biggest insurance compani es and investment funds arrived in Poland, the Polish people prefer to keep their cash in banks. According to a Rzeczpospolita survey, at the end of Jun e it was estimated that the entire amount of savings amassed by Poles was zl .262 billion, of which 80% was kept in banks. This contradicts the predictio ns of analysts, who had been pointing to a swift change in Polish attitudes toward saving. The analysts had expected a rapid increase in demand for insu rance policies, as has been the case in other European countries, as well as more interest in investment funds. However, life insurance policies are slow ly but surely becoming more popular. In June 2001, they accounted for 14% of all savings. The survey also reveals that interest in the stock exchange is sporadic, varying according to the situation. Investment fund specialists ar e particularly disappointed and speak openly about stagnation in their secto r. They claim that Poles associate the funds with high risk stock exchange s peculation, and that the funds suffer from a lack of proper advertising, whi ch limits their access to potential clients. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) J.K.