What Brexit? UK investors are feeling more confident in their investments than European peers, Legg Mason finds
UK investors are more optimistic than their average European counterpart, despite uncertainty around Brexit, according to a study out today.
Half (50 per cent) of UK investors are somewhat optimistic about the returns their investments could achieve over the next year, while 13 per cent are very optimistic. Eight per cent were not optimistic at all, while 30 per cent are not that optimistic.
Over the continent as a whole, 49 per cent are somewhat optimistic, while seven per cent are very optimistic.
Only Swedish investors were more glass-half-full than Brits, with 62 per cent somewhat optimistic and six per cent very optimistic.
In the UK, 46 per cent said they are concerned Brexit could affect their performance, while 52 per cent pointed towards low interest rates.
“While there has been an understandable focus on the impact of Brexit, the truly global nature of investment markets – particularly the FTSE 100 – means investors can continue to make returns irrespective of the domestic outlook,” said Justin Eede, head of Europe and Americas distribution at Legg Mason.
“As such, it is perhaps unsurprising that such a positive attitude has prevailed into 2017, especially following the gains seen the previous year across some asset classes.”
Further afield, US and Chinese investors are the most positive globally, while Japan came bottom, with 48 per cent saying they are not that optimistic and 12 per cent saying they are not optimistic at all.
Elsewhere, the Investment Association yesterday reported that fund managers enjoyed net retail sales of £3.5bn in July, marking a 12 consecutive month of inflows.
Alastair Wainwright, a fund market specialist at the Investment Association, said: “Net retail sales in July were £3.5bn, making this the highest July net retail inflow on record.
“So far this year, retail clients have invested £23.1bn in UK authorised funds, already surpassing annual net retail sales in both 2015 (£16.9bn) and 2016 (£6.8bn).”
Read more: Four in 10 businesses say Brexit transition period would benefit them