European investors are highly confident in their ability to construct their own portfolios, with 60% of British, German and Swiss investors being either “fairly” or “very” confident in their ability to adopt a “do-it-yourself” (DIY) approach, research has found.
Cerulli Associates’ research indicated that while European investors did not necessarily think they could achieve better results than professional money managers, they generally believed they could get by with a minimum level of guidance.
Barbara Wall, managing director at Cerulli, said the high confidence among investors in Europe reflects the level of financial education in Europe, and suggested investors in these countries might have a limited regard for professional advice. Spain was a singular exception, with only 26% of respondents having faith in their DIY ability.
The ‘European Investor Segmentation 2016’ report by Cerulli also indicated robo-advice was increasingly popular with investors. The UK has the largest and most developed robo-advice market in Europe, with 42% of UK respondents saying they would consider investing via an automated online investment tool.
Elsewhere in Europe, the robo-advice model has failed to catch on quite so widely, with 34% of Swiss respondents saying they had no knowledge of robo-advisors. Still, Wall said the vehicle has good long-term prospects.
Investors’ willingness to construct their own portfolios may reflect the nature of Cerulli’s sample participants, as those surveyed had at least €200,000 of investable assets to their name.
©2016 funds europe
