Due to ongoing challenging market conditions investor's appetite for risk continues to flat-line with investors moving their focus from capital growth to stable income, according to GBST Broker Services and Financial Services.

In the current investment market, volumes are low both in the institutional and the retail investment sectors.

"In regards to the climate we are in, without a clear direction from the market a lot of investors are concerned with the global situation and are looking for more stable income options and placing that as a higher priority than capital growth," said Denis Orrock, chief executive officer at GBST Broker Services and Financial Services.

"We have also seen a demand for hybrid securities and it shows that people are now looking for income above and beyond capital growth," he said adding that the banks hybrid securities have been in high demand.

With the Global Financial Crisis cycle that has been going on for about four and a half years and in regards to what is happening globally today, Orrock said he doesn't believe the cycle will end soon.

"I think that investors are fatigued by a continuous cycle of bad news and fear, and it's showing up in their current investment decisions," he said.

For many investors and particularly those who rely on investments to fund their retirement income, Orrock said stable income is probably a little bit more important to them than potential capital growth as they want to minimise capital loss by maximising their incomes.

"It's important that we acknowledge investor fatigue and the fact that the cycle is not going to turn tomorrow.

"This sort of climate should encourage investors to stop and recheck and look at how they do business moving forward," said Orrock.