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Cut the jargon and more people will invest

Joanna Faith
Written By:
Joanna Faith
Posted:
Updated:
26/02/2019

If the finance industry wants to get more people investing, they need to stop using jargon, according to a study.

This was the single biggest response – above even guaranteed returns – when financial advice site Boring Money polled 6,000 investors and non-investors about the one change the industry needed to make to encourage people to invest.

The research found just 14% of people felt confident in opening an investment account compared with 41% who said they were confident opening a savings account.

Surprisingly, confidence was not much higher among people who already invest with just 22% of investors saying they felt confident opening their account.

A further 22% scored themselves 0-5 out of 10 when asked how confident they were that their investments were right for them.

According to Boring Money, 10% of assets held with a DIY investment platform or robo adviser are in cash, up from 7% this time last year, suggesting a lack of confidence in the market.

Holly Mackay, CEO of Boring Money, said: “When it comes to investing, confidence remains rock bottom, driven by short-term nerves about market uncertainty but also longer-term issues created by a lack of understanding. The industry’s failure to provide clarity on both what the objectives and characteristics of investments are, and what the costs involved are, means it is shooting itself in the foot.”

To help you cut through the jargon, YourMoney.com has published its own jargon buster, which you can see here.