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Calastone Global Investor Research 2021 – Summary Points
UK investors see the largest shift in optimism to invest across the world, driven by Gen X and millennials
- The UK posted the highest % increase across the world pre to post wave in terms of % investors likely to invest in the future
- Post wave almost one fifth (17%) more UK investors stated they would now invest in the future – pre-wave a minority 41% of UK investors stated they were likely to make new investments, a number which grew to 58% post pandemic
- The second highest was the US with a 9% increase, followed by Australia with a mere 2% increase
- This demonstrates there is hope ahead amongst UK investors, amongst which there has been the greatest shift in investment appetite since 2020 (pre to post wave) – investors growing more optimistic, more likely to make an investment and try to profit take, capitalising on market volatility
- The investor optimism in the UK is being led largely by Gen X – the data in Figure 7 shows the highest % increase in proportion of investors likely to invest post wave (9%) compared to lower risk appetite from older investors
Digital disruption – younger investors worldwide are increasingly likely to purchase financial products from non-traditional FS providers if they had the opportunity to do so, favouring speed and efficiency from technology platforms such as ecommerce or social media
- Figure 12 – post wave a majority 62% of millennials worldwide would favour buying investment products from tech companies
- This trend is highest in the US with 69% millennial investors favouring tech companies ahead of FS providers, followed by Hong Kong (67%) and the UK (58%)
- More than half (51%) Gen X respondents would favour tech companies if offered
- Similarly, younger investors are increasingly leaning towards ecommerce platforms and online retailers for financial services if they had the chance – this is again highest in the US (61%), followed by Hong Kong (54%) and UK (42%)
- UK investors use in-person interaction for investments the least out of all the countries surveyed, preferring a digital-first approach
A trend that shows the increasing demands for speed and efficiency across CX/UX when it comes to buying FS products – and a calling card to traditional providers to adapt, innovate and evolve in step with these new demands, or risk having share eroded by technology companies
Comment From Calastone’s CMO
Andrew Tomlinson, Calastone’s CMO, comments; “As the UK finalises its vaccination programme, we are seeing a much greater willingness to invest – so much so that the shift in UK investor sentiment has seen the most positive change globally. This increasing appetite to invest has been reflected in fund flows across our network over the past year, where we have continued to see record high inflows into equity funds. What’s interesting, and particularly encouraging, is that much of this positive sentiment is being driven by Gen X and Millennial investors, who at the same time have seen significant shifts towards managing their investments digitally.
Our research also shows that in-person interaction is now less important to UK investors than the rest of the world, emphasising the need for the industry to focus on providing accessible, intuitive and low cost digital investment products.”
Click here to download the report.
