One in three investors feel worried about decisions
TD Direct Investing has released the latest findings of its annual Investor Confidence Survey, which reveal that six months post the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) almost one in three UK investors (32%) feel bad or worried about making their own investment decisions.
Stuart Welch, CEO, TD Direct Investing, said: "In these tough economic times when people are trying to save what they can for their future years, it's not great that people feel worried or nervous when they are making their investment decisions. For those left without the lifebelt of professional advice offered by some investment providers as a result of RDR, they need more support than ever to make more confident decisions.
It's widely reported that people need to start saving earlier for retirement but this will only happen if consumers are educated and they know where to go to get information and support.
Whilst some do feel confident or happy in their decisions (32%), these results place even more of an emphasis on companies to get those that don't to feel more comfortable in their decisions. One of the ways to do this is by providing education materials and tools, which is something we have been enhancing in the last year or so."
When RDR came into effect at the turn of the year it was expected that 5.5 million investors would cease using financial advisers or would lose access to them. It was predicted that these customers, who account for 11% of UK adults, would represent a significant post-RDR advice gap and that 32% would be likely to do their own investment research and administration.
Stuart continued: "We found that nearly half (47%) of UK investors use internet research to increase investment knowledge, with an additional 34% relying on financial press or specialist magazines for information versus just 23% that take advice from a professional."
Justin James, music producer and self-investor, said: "It's really important that my investing decisions are informed by preparation and research. This means I can be bold where I want to be and feel confident in my decisions. Investing myself means I am in control of achieving my goals and enables me to continue with my passion in life, which is music."
The 2013 TD Investor Confidence Survey also found that despite ups and downs in the markets, investor confidence among UK investors appears to be remarkably robust. 70% of UK investors say that their investments have stayed about the same over the past 12 months or have improved a fair amount, while a third of UK investors agree that now is a good time to invest in the UK stock market.
Stuart Welch, CEO, TD Direct Investing, added: "Our research showed that over half of investors still don't know what RDR is, which may be because they don't think it affects them. One of the goals of RDR is to make costs more transparent to the investor, however in the current climate this could leave them feeling like they can't afford the advice they feel they need.
As a result, this could leave some people not knowing where to go. So it's more important than ever that we continue to make investing simple and transparent, which is something TD has always been committed to."
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For more information clients can log on to tddirectinvesting.co.uk.