Article by Christina
Latest Investment Planner advice figures
The number of people investing has fallen in 2023 reducing the need for investment planner advice, according to research from Moneybox.
The research showed that the number of investors was down to 26% of the population, 6% lower than 2022. It also found that:
- 36% said they could no longer afford to invest.
- 22% said that they wanted to hold cash rather than investments.
- 26% were worried they might lose their money, whilst
- 19% said they were not confident and would benefit from investment planner advice
- And 40% said they were confident about their investments.
It certainly seems that cash has become more popular with an increase of almost 50% in savings accounts and nearly a third in cash ISA’s.
But who are the investors and how much money do they have? According to the Alpha Financial Adviser Survey 2023:
- 13% of investors are mass market with up to £75,000 to invest.
- 53% are mass affluent with between £75,000 and £500,000 to invest.
- Those with between £500,000 and £1 million are high net worth, who make up 21% of investors.
- Whilst 4% are ultra high net worth, with over £1 million to invest.
There are 9% of “others”. But what are high net worth clients most concerned about? According research from RBC Wealth management:
- 35% are most concerned about Inheritance Tax
- 31% are worried about being able to maintain their lifestyle.
- 27% are concerned about capital gains tax.
- 23% are concerned about to pass their wealth on without losing control of their affairs.
Its reported that there could be some help on the way in the form of tax cuts. The chancellor is considering cuts to income tax and tax rate bands ahead of the spring budget.
This could happen given that income tax receipts have increased by almost £13 billion in the last year.
But cuts to Inheritance Tax may not materialise, even though it would help with investment planner advice. It is seen as unfair by many, as it only affects 5% of households. That’s despite raising an anticipated £7.6 billion this year.
The Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also made it clear that he is opposed to any cuts and would reverse any changes the government might make.
Despite the increase tax take across the board, tax evasion and avoidance are also on the rise. HMRC revealed that it estimates that the cost of tax evasion was £4.7 billion. Up £1 billion on the previous year. On top of that tax avoidance costs the treasury another £1.4 billion. HMRC are determined to tackle the problem and have opened over 1,000 new serious tax evasion investigations. The sort of investigations that can lead to a prison sentence.
I don’t think anyone would disagree with the need for more tax investigations.
Elsewhere, does the government have plans up its sleeve to boost home ownership rates? According to some experts that might be the case. It seems that the government is considering the introduction of mortgages with a 1% deposit in order to boost access to home buying.
This would be a popular policy no doubt but could create risks. It would only take a small dip in property values to trap people in negative equity. However, with house prices increasing over time, that would only be a temporary problem. There are also concerns from some quarters that this type of policy could see prices being driven up creating a housing bubble. Government guarantees would no doubt help protect lenders, but would there be any protections for borrowers?
This would be important when you consider the cases of the Northern Rock “mortgage prisoners”. A group of people trapped on old interest only standard variable rate mortgages since 2008. They haven’t been able to transfer their mortgages to other lenders or to switch to new fixed rates because they don’t meet the new affordability rules, or have negative equity. The government and mortgage lenders seem to washed their hands of these people leaving them trapped. There is a whiff of the Post Office scandal about these cases, which it seems could be resolved at a stroke by a simple relaxation of lending rules for these particular customers.
Something needs to be done.
A boost in the housing market would benefit the economy and also HMRC. Home buyers paid nearly £12 billion in Stamp Duty last year. Although this was down from £16 billion the year before.
