Is investment in UK businesses set to rise?
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March 25, 2019
According to new research by Master Investor Ltd, 85% of investors are actively looking to invest in the UK in 2019 with more than a third (37%) highlighting that this number has increased over the last few years.
The research by Master Investor, the UK-based investment media and events company that delivers independent, financial commentary and analysis to UK private investors and traders, featured respondents that were on average 54-years-old and in the majority, either self-directed or ISA investors. They claimed to have around £387,000 in investable assets for 2019 which was up 31% compared to 2018.
According to Master Investor’s research, healthcare (16%) and technology (15%) are currently the most favoured UK sectors for investments. They were followed by real estate (9%), financials (8%) and energy (8%). 7% selected both infrastructure and consumer staples while 6% selected IT and telecoms.
The research also showed that nearly a fifth (18%) of respondents said they are most likely to favour UK small caps or AIM shares in 2019. This compared to 14% who chose UK blue chip equities.
One of the biggest investment trends in the last twelve months in the UK has been the growth in ethical investing. Indeed since 2008, assets in ethical funds have qrown almost four-fold from £4.5bn to £16.9bn towards the end of 2018. Master Investor’s research seems to support this trend with more than a third of (37%) respondents suggesting that they would be actively seeking more ethical investments in 2019.
James Faulkner, Master Investor, commented on the research: “The UK remains very popular for investors and is set to be even more popular despite a background of increasing economic uncertainty. We were interested to see the popularity of healthcare and technology which both offer a wide range of growth and value investments. Furthermore, ethical investing which remains a hot topic in the investment community, is something that we are seeing greater demand in.”
| Which specific UK sector do you currently favour in terms of your investments? | |
| Healthcare | 16% |
| Technology | 15% |
| Real estate | 9% |
| Energy | 8% |
| Financials | 8% |
| Infrastructure | 7% |
| Consumer Staples | 7% |
| IT and telecoms | 6% |
| Materials | 5% |
| Industrials | 4% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 4% |
| Utilities | 4% |
| Alternatives | 3% |
| Other | 3% |
Source: Master Investor (February 2019)
