Have you ever used financial advice for investing? Vote in our poll
A survey from the UK's financial watchdog found that 8.6% had received regulated financial advice on investments, pensions or retirement planning in the last 12 months.
That worked out to the equivalent of 4.6 million UK adults, based on the 17,950 participants in the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) 2024 Financial Lives survey, which was published on Friday.
This figure was only slightly higher from the 8.3% — the equivalent of 4.4 million adults — that said they had received regulated financial advice in the previous year, in the FCA's 2022 survey.
Meanwhile, three in eight (37%) UK adults used information or guidance in the last 12 months to help make decisions about investments, saving into a pension or retirement planning, according to the survey. The most common sources included government‑backed services like Citizens Advice, MoneyHelper and Pension Wise (17%) and private sector money advice websites (15%).
Focusing on investments specifically, the FCA's survey found that Google (GOOG) search remained the most commonly-used source of information — used by 29% of investors in the past 12 months. That was followed by private sector money advice websites (24%), family or friends (22%) and a financial adviser, accountant, stock-broker or other financial professional (21%).
Read more: Stocks to watch this week: Palo Alto Networks, Analog Devices, Marks & Spencer, Greggs and easyJet
The survey also found that 39% of UK adults — the equivalent of 21.2 million — held investments in 2024. Excluding those with an investment property or other real investments (such as wine, art or jewellery) but with no other investment products, this proportion fell to 35%, which was down from 37% in 2022.
In addition, 61% of adults with £10,000 or more in investible assets held all or at least three-quarters of these assets in cash.
Chris Cummings, CEO of trade body the Investment Association, said: "We must create a culture of inclusive investment that educates and encourages people across the country to make financial decisions that benefit them both now and for the long-term.
"This includes looking at options for ISA reforms to better support long-term investment, improving access to financial advice and modernising the retail disclosure framework to shift the focus from warning to informing and empowering consumers."
Have you ever received financial advice to help with investing? Vote in our poll below.
Yahoo UK's poll of the week lets you vote and indicate your strength of feeling on one of the week's hot topics. After the poll closes, we'll publish and analyse the results each Friday, giving readers the chance to see how polarising a topic has become and if their view chimes with other Yahoo UK readers.
Read more:
Five 'buy' rated European travel stocks
UK economy grows 0.7% in first quarter of the year
Savers making costly 'bad decisions' around pensions as 15 million risk retirement poverty
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ampere Analysis Breaks Down The Threat U.S. Tariffs Would Pose To European Film & TV
Speaking at NEM in Croatia, Ampere Analysis Co-Founder Guy Bisson ran the rule over the so-called plan to save Hollywood from Jon Voight and associates, and assessed the potential impact on the European film and TV biz. 'A 120% tariff on incentives to cancel out global schemes is patently ridiculous and obviously very damaging, potentially, to the European industry,' he said. 'Tax treaties, local tax treaties in the U.S., and incentive schemes, just like we use in Europe, clearly, are the way to go if you want to re-enliven your industries.' More from Deadline Donald Trump's Tariffs Deemed Unlawful & Blocked By Trade Court; White House Appeals Instantly Life After Peak TV: "It's A New World Order... There's A Rethink Required" - Berlin Streamer Content Spend To Top Commercial Broadcasters For First Time In 2025 - Report A draft of Voight's Make Hollywood Great Again plan, obtained by Deadline, included a mixture of production incentives and a 120% tariff on the value of a foreign incentive received. After he presented the plan to Donald Trump, the President public proposed a 100% tariff on all U.S. film imports, including productions that shoot in other countries. The NEM confab and sales market is held annually in Dubrovnik. The latest edition kicked off, Monday, with Bisson's session, which was entitled: 'Content Trends in the Era of Trump: Protectionism, Production and International Markets'. The Ampere executive set the scene by showing how the European content business has benefitted from the U.S. studios widening their production bases and streamers setting up shop in several parts of the continent, resulting in orders for thousands of hours of first-run programming. He also said international markets are key to those same U.S. giants monetizing their series and movies with, for example, 54% of the total box office for U.S. films coming from international markets, according to Ampere. Getting into the weeds on the suggested measures, he said a 120% tariff on any incentive received overseas is 'one of the most concerning aspects of the proposal, effectively closing the door on U.S. producers making use of any overseas incentive.' He went on to break down what might happen if the proposed measure were introduced with a slide that pinpointed the UK and Spain as the two biggest potential losers in Europe, given the volumes of U.S. production in both countries. 'Obviously the big European markets – the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany – are on that list, but so is Poland, for example, and Turkey, and the Scandinavian markets. They have been the [among] biggest beneficiaries of that 'runaway' production.' Speaking about the notion of tax treaties with certain countries for films substantially produced in U.S., Bisson said the idea is interesting: 'While you still have to make a majority, or spend a majority of the budget, in the U.S., you can effectively stack or double dip incentive schemes through those treaties.' He also said any re-introduction of rules that prohibit networks (and now, SVODs) fully owning shows 'would remove one of the things that's annoyed producers so much, which is streamers taking all rights in perpetuity.' Trump has said that he would meet with industry officials, and the White House said no final decisions have been made regarding the plan. Voight, Sylvester Stallone and a group that included studios and unions later wrote a letter to Trump emphasizing the need for production incentives While punchy, the NEM presentation was, thusly, analyzing what are currently theoretical scenarios. Bisson said that the best hope for the European biz is that theory never becomes practice. 'None of this is actually happening or being put in place yet, it's just a suggestion,' he said. 'Who can predict what Trump will do next. You may have heard the nickname that Trump has been given: TACO; Trump, Always Chickens Out on tariffs. That's what we can hope will happen again when it comes to our industry and the suggested protectionism being placed on film and TV.' Ted Johnson contributed to this report. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery Tony Awards: Every Best Musical Winner Since 1949 Tony Awards: Every Best Play Winner Since 1947
CNBC
2 hours ago
- CNBC
Wall Street loves this recent IPO with one analyst calling it the ‘social network trading platform'
Wall Street is extremely bullish on stock trading platform eToro , with analysts estimating the stock could rise between 11% and 24% from here. Israel-based eToro went public on May 15 , with its initial public offering price at $52 per share, above the high end of its proposed range. The stock opened that day at $69.69, or 34% above its IPO, and closed up nearly 29% at $67 per share. Shares surged more than 5% on Monday to hit a fresh 52-week high. The overwhelming positive sentiment from Wall Street has rewarded the company's decision to go public after a lengthy dry spell for IPOs. "We felt that we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel of the correction in the markets," CEO Yoni Assia said in an interview with CNBC. Here's what analysts at some of the biggest shops on Wall Street had to say on the IPO. Goldman Sachs initiates coverage at buy rating and 12-month price target of $76 per share Analyst James Yaro's target implies nearly 11% upside from eToro's Friday closing price of $68.70 per share. "We see ETOR as an attractive market share gain story in the fragmented European retail brokerage market, driven by a differentiated offering vs. peers, in terms of: 1) its geographic and product breadth (a pan-European client base that can trade global unlevered and levered equities, currencies, commodities, and crypto); 2) a tech-enabled offering; and 3) CopyTrader, which is both a loss mitigation tool, and a tool to facilitate social trading, which many younger investors want — these combined factors have driven ~5.5pp of share gains since 2019." Canaccord Genuity initiates coverage at buy rating, $78 per share price target Canaccord Genuity's target calls for almost 14% upside going forward. "We view eToro as a clear share gainer in retail trading/investing. We also believe the short to medium term here is ripe with catalysts, including a big push into the US market, and the potential for crypto to move more towards becoming a mainstream asset class." Needham initiates coverage of eToro as a buy, sets price target of $80 per share The investment firm called eToro "the social network trading platform," while its price target is 16% above the stock's Friday closing price. "We believe eToro's strength is in its 'social trading aspect' which is driving higher monetization per funded account. We see an opportunity to grow funded accounts by converting registered users, and through new expansion opportunities in Asia and U.S." Jefferies sets buy rating, $80 per share price target "eToro is well-positioned to benefit from the growing adoption of retail investing globally. With leading retail market share in markets like the EU and UK, combined with a differentiated product offering and distinguished brand, we believe eToro is uniquely positioned to continue to grow its account base organically at +10% y/y." Mizuho initiates coverage at outperform rating and $80 per share price target "With 3.5mn funded accounts across a global footprint of 75 countries, ETOR focuses on disrupting legacy institutions both globally and in the U.S. by providing both investing tools and learning resources. Key medium-term catalysts include: growing retail participation in Europe (~70% of ETOR revenue); Gen Z is beginning to trade earlier in life than prior generations and has an affinity for viral social trading apps like ETOR; a pending, estimated $80tn generational wealth transfer; and opportunity to grow in the U.S. and Asia, where retail trading is popular. ETOR enjoys several key competitive advantages. It has a set of viral features like social trading (use of influences), copy trading (mimics successful investor portfolios), and AI-driven smart portfolios offering retail investors thematic/strategy-based trading." TD Cowen initiates coverage at buy rating, $80 price target "We see ETOR as an attractive play on the global rise of retail and crypto adoption, strong [revenue per user], ad spend [return on investment] + client [margin on client assets] metrics. While low float may make ETOR bumpy, we see favorable catalysts ahead." Cantor Fitzgerald initiates coverage at overweight and price target of $84 per share Analyst Brett Knoblauch's target equates to 22% upside. "We have ETOR trading at 26.5x 2025 P/E, which we believe is a reasonable entry point for a business that we believe can compound earnings at a 15% [compound annual growth rate] over the next two years, with the potential for upside coming from our relatively conservative revenue growth expectations (8.8% CAGR). Combining ETOR's valuation, numerous growth vectors (new markets, greater market share, generational wealth transfer, and new products), we believe risk/reward at current levels to be favorable." Citizens sets market outperform rating and $85 per share price target "The company is scaling its core offerings and exploring new financial services through organic growth and potential M & A. With a compelling valuation and untapped market opportunities, we believe eToro is well-positioned to capture share of the expanding retail investing market." — CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
World's beef eaters facing major price hikes ahead of barbecue season
Carnivores will likely need deeper pockets this year as global beef supplies tighten and prices head up again, in turn meaning more expensive barbecues, burgers, bolognese and steak dinners. "Global beef production is expected to contract through the remainder of the year, with an overall contraction of 2% projected for the year," according to Angus Gidley-Baird of RaboResearch, part of Dutch lender Rabobank. Some of the world's major cattle and beef producer countries expected to be affected, Gidley-Baird said, with "largest contractions" expected in Brazil and New Zealand, while Europe, the US and China are also likely to see reductions. Even if other suppliers such as Australia and Argentina remain unaffected, the contracting supplies elsewhere are likely to see the "further supporting" of already "elevated" cattle prices. Not only are global cattle markets "trending higher" this year, prices in Europe have seen an "especially strong rise in Q1 [the first quarter of the year] as domestic supplies contracted while demand remained strong." Pests and diseases are affecting cattle supplies in Europe and North America, according to the researchers, who said that although beef has not been mentioned as a commodity to be targeted for tariffs beyond the impact of general or "baseline" measures, the prospect of further trade tensions has seen some reconfiguring of markets. "Reports are emerging that Chinese buyers are looking more toward Australian, New Zealand and South American suppliers as US beef becomes unavailable or more expensive," Rabobank's researchers said. The report follows warnings in some countries that the price of "conventional" beef has reached that of usually more expensive organic beef. This time of year usually sees seasonal high demand and high prices for beef as the 'barbecue season' associated with European and North American summers approaches. Global food prices already saw significant increases during Covid lockdowns and in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022, a war pitting two major food commodity producers against each other. Prices for the most part have not returned to their pre-2020 level, with recent reports warning of further rises for staples such as coffee, cocoa, olive oil and sugar.
