Expanding Consumer Access to Investments (Financial Conduct Authority)

Summary

• The Financial Conduct Authority spent £14m on its InvestSmart campaign to promote positive investing principles.p.5
• A survey by Capital.Com showed that 34% of individuals investing in traditional savings products are hesitant to invest due to concerns about scams.p.5
• According to the Financial Lives 2024 survey, 59% of UK adults with at least £10,000 in cash agreed that cash savings lose value because interest rates fail to keep pace with inflation.p.6
• The Financial Lives 2024 survey found that 26% of investors holding high-risk products reported having very low or no willingness to take risks.p.6
• A total of 29% of UK adults have no investible assets or hold assets of less than £1,000.p.7
• The Financial Lives 2024 survey revealed that 61% of UK adults with £10,000 or more in investible assets hold all or most of their investments in cash.p.8
• In 2022, FCA research found that approximately 80% of customers lose money when investing in Contracts for Difference (CFDs).p.9

Key insights

1. Retail customer usage of non-advised platforms grew from 5.9% in 2020 to 11% in 2024.p.10
2. Trading app demographics lean heavily young, with 47% of users aged 18 to 34 compared to 18% aged 55 or older.p.10
3. Virtually all investment underperformance on high digital engagement practice (DEP) apps is attributable to trading in cryptoassets and CFDs.p.11
4. Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending investment volumes contracted significantly from approximately £6b in 2021 to £1.4b in 2025.p.15
5. UK statutory thresholds for high-net-worth investor exemptions stand at £100k annual income or £250k in net assets, remaining unchanged since July 2001.p.23
6. Only 1 in 5 adults holding high-risk investments remembered being asked if they were a high net worth, sophisticated, or restricted investor the last time they invested.p.24