'Big Short' investor Michael Burry says 95% of us don't know what we own —are Canadians in the same boat?

Burry — whose story was adapted into the movie The Big Short — didn’t offer any more context. He didn’t explain why he thinks that’s the case, how he landed on 95% as a figure, or even whether he sees it as a problem.

So it’s up to the rest of us to figure out: Is he right? Do most investors really not know what they’re invested in — and is that even such a bad thing?

Here’s how it breaks down for Canadians.

Why do we invest in the first place?

Everyone invests for different reasons, which means everyone’s strategy looks a little different too.

According to the RBC Financial Flexibility Poll, 58% of Canadians say they’re currently investing in a TFSA, an RRSP, or both. Fewer than half are following a budget (44%), and half have reduced or paid off debt over the past year.

Not all of that investing is aimed at the same goal. Some of it is long-term, like retirement. Some of it is short-term, like an emergency fund or a big purchase.

Someone saving for retirement will likely want to use a tax-sheltered account like an RRSP. In 2026, Canadians can contribute up to 18% of the previous year’s earned income to an RRSP, to a maximum of $33,810, plus any unused room carried forward. But an RRSP generally isn’t the best place to park an emergency fund, since withdrawals get added to your taxable income. A TFSA — which allows tax-free withdrawals any time, with $7,000 in new room for 2026 — is usually the better home for money you might need on short notice. You can even park a High-Interest Savings Account (HISA) in a TFSA to avoid paying any taxes on interest earned while maintaining easy access to the cash.

Workplace retirement plans are also a common way Canadians invest without paying much attention to what’s actually inside them. Employer-sponsored plans, including workplace pensions and group RRSPs, cover 45% of the Canadian labour force, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), the federal regulator that oversees banks, insurers and pension plans.

Many of those group plans put new contributions into a target-date fund by default — a single fund that automatically shifts its mix of stocks and bonds as an employee gets closer to retirement. Target-date funds now make up 73% of default investment options in Canadian group RRSPs, according to a Benefits Canada survey.

Target-date funds are convenient. They’re also, by design, a set-it-and-forget-it option for people who don’t want to think much about what’s inside their portfolio. But if you’re contributing to one every paycheque and never checking what’s in it, there’s a good chance you don’t know exactly what you own, either.

There’s also the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), which is managed by CPP Investments, a firm that operates independently of the government and manages the government pensions of over 22 million contributors and beneficiaries. It works to maximize long-term financial returns, and does so by investing in a broad mix of asset classes including public and private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed-income credit. Geographically speaking, it allocates 47% of its investments to the United States, 12% to Canada and the rest across other international markets.

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Is it actually bad that we don’t know what we own?

There’s no Canadian study confirming Burry’s exact 95% figure. But there’s plenty of evidence that a lot of Canadians aren’t paying close attention to their investments — and that might not be the disaster it sounds like.

Doing your own research matters, especially if you’d want to avoid a specific stock or sector for ethical or personal reasons. But not everyone is equipped to manage, or interested in managing, a portfolio on their own.