UK Investor Confidence Remains High as Majority Expect to See a Return Over the New Financial Year

A survey of UK investors commissioned by peer to peer real estate investment platform, easyMoney, has found that 80% have confidence that their portfolio will bring a return over the new financial year, however, the economic landscape, cost of living crisis and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine continue to cause concern.

Confidence amongst UK investors remains high, with just 20% stating that they weren’t confident that their portfolio will bring a return in the new financial year.

25% were slightly confident, with 32% stating they were somewhat confident and 23% feeling very confident.

However, concerns do remain for the majority, with the general economic landscape being the largest concern, while the current cost of living crisis and the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine also ranked high.

With these concerns in mind, 63% stated that they plan to keep their portfolio as is for the year ahead, although 29% have plans to make further investments, while just 8% are going to reduce their portfolio size.

When it comes to the most popular channels, stocks and shares were the most prominent path of investment, followed by ISAs, bonds and Index or Mutual Funds.

Perhaps surprising then, that just 35% of investors stated that they had maximised the tax-free ISA allowance open to them for the current tax year ahead of this week’s deadline.

When it comes to ISA investment specifically, stocks and shares ISAs have proved the most popular, followed by cash ISAs

Despite the far stronger rates of return on offer, amongst other benefits, the Innovative Finance ISA was the least widely utilised by investors.

Jason Ferrando, CEO of easyMoney says:

“In what has become an increasingly difficult landscape, it’s great to see that investor confidence remains robust for the year ahead and this is no doubt the result of a varied approach to investing and the benefits that a diverse portfolio can bring.

What is perhaps surprising is the fact that so few are utilising the tax-free allowance open to them via ISA investment.

At the same time, the majority are also sticking with the more established routes of a stocks and shares or cash ISA, despite other products, such as the Innovative Finance ISA, presenting a far stronger return.

However, the latter is gaining ground as investors look to bolster their returns in darker economic times, with the flexibility that an IFISA provides also proving a popular draw.

Our advice, whichever path you decide on, make sure you maximise your tax free ISA allowance this financial year.”