Britons named worst investors in Europe by CPS

JACK BARNETT AND CHARLIE CONCHIE

BRITONS are the worst investors in Europe and have around £1.8 trillion in savings accounts, near the entire value of the FTSE 100, a new report has found.

UK retail investors own 21p of £1 of stocks and bonds and other assets, the lowest proportion in Europe, according to the think tank the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS).

French retail investors have a 28 per cent stake in all the country’s assets, while Germans own a third. Spanish investors hold 84 per cent of the country’s assets.

Some 12 per cent of London-listed shares are owned by UK residents, versus 50 per cent in the 1960s.

CPS analysis of HMRC data found 90 per cent and 80 per cent of the least wealthy and middle class families respectively elect to open cash ISAs instead of vehicles that invest in equities. Yet 50 per cent of richer investors open stocks and shares ISAs.

The CPS argues low participation in stock market investing among less well off households is “increasing wealth inequality significantly”.

The CPS said ministers should consider merging cash with stocks and shares ISAs into a single product and require a proportion of shares made available in new listings to be offered to retail traders.

They also said a taxpayerbacked fund that operates like a FTSE 100-tracker vehicle would help crowd in retail investment.