For Immediate Release: Monday 6 March 2000
INVESTORS CHOOSE UNIT TRUSTS AND OEICS TO BEAT DEPOSIT
ACCOUNTS AND MAKE MONEY
Results of AUTIF’s annual research into UK investors profile
and behaviour
The results of AUTIF’s 1999 survey into the buying habits
and attitudes of callers to its information service, reveal
a clear and growing appreciation of the benefits of unit trusts
and OEICs as long term investments. It also shows that the
opportunity to beat bank and building society deposit rates
is by far the most popular reason for choosing unit trusts
and OEICs over another type of investment. The research also
identified that:
- Investors plan to hold their investment funds for an average
of 8.2 years, the longest since the annual survey began
in 1994.
- 20% of investors call four or more management companies
before investing.
- The proportion of women interested in unit trusts and
investment funds continues to rise.
- The number of lower rate taxpayers who hold investment
funds has increased.
Investments
- 73% of callers favour lump sum investment, with the average
investment increasing to £4,665 in 1999.
- 31% choose to save regularly, but the average monthly
investment of £85 is at its lowest since the survey started.
- Over two thirds of those with maxi ISAs will invest the
maximum allowed (£7,000). This compares to 44% who invested
the maximum amount in PEPs in 1998.
- Average ISA contributions were estimated to be £5,112.50
for a maxi ISA and £1,797.50 for a mini ISA.
Information/Distribution
- Investors increasingly prefer to buy investment funds
direct from the provider, either by post, telephone or via
the internet. Although low in relation to other methods,
the internet’s popularity has increased significantly in
1999.
- Savers still depend on newspapers as their main source
of information before making investment decisions.
- Investors rely heavily on past performance when making
their financial decisions and fund providers are chosen
primarily on the basis of their past performance record.
79% of respondents indicated that past investment performance
should be included in the comparative information proposed
by the FSA.
Commenting on the research, Anne McMeehan, Director of Communications,
said:
"Thrifty, over fifty and male may well be the traditional
image of the shrewd investor, but increasingly, as our research
shows, it’s the young and female who are interested in investment
funds. The introduction of ISAs has yet to make a significant
impact on investor type and behaviour, however, initial
pointers do indicate that ISA buyers are generally younger
than PEP holders."
For further information please contact:
Philip Warland, Director General, AUTIF - +44 (0)20
7831 0898
Anne McMeehan, Director of Communications, AUTIF - +44 (0)20 7831
0898
Clare Arber, PR Manager, AUTIF - +44 (0)20 7831 0898
Notes to editors
This is the sixth successive year that AUTIF has commissioned
the survey. It was carried out by Continental Research. 504
callers to AUTIF’s Unit Trust Information Service (UTIS) were
interviewed by telephone in November 1999. Apart from the
division to ensure a 50/50 split between existing unit trust
holders and non-holders, the sample was selected at random.
A copy of the survey is attached.
UTIS is the Association’s dedicated, 24-hour
information line, handling all the public information booklets
produced by AUTIF. Readers should call +44 (0)20 8207 1361 for the
range of free, generic guides. Alternatively, full details
are available from the AUTIF website, www.investmentfunds.org.uk
The Association of Unit Trusts and Investment
Funds (AUTIF) is the trade body representing the UK unit trust
and investment funds industry. Its members are responsible
for over 99% of the industry’s funds under management.
Attachment - Survey
(in PDF Format)
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