UK investors most content across Europe

The UK is the only country in Europe where the majority of investors are pleased with their investment decisions, according to new research from Schroders.

At the end of a turbulent year, which has thrown up many challenges for the investor, Schroders polled more than 1,400 affluent investors across 10 European countries, asking them how happy they were with the investments they had made and what, if any, had been their investment regrets.

The research findings reveal that in eight of the 10 countries surveyed, the majority of investors were not happy with the investments they had made. The exceptions were the UK and Germany. In the UK, just over half were happy with their investments (55%) and opinion was balanced in Germany (50%).

Whilst the level of investor satisfaction was strongest in the UK, investors also expressed a number of investment regrets.

The top regret in the UK was not starting to invest earlier in life (16%). This is further illustrated by half saying that their top piece of money advice they would pass on to their children would be to start saving as early as possible.

Around 13% of UK investors said they wished they had invested more money, a concern that was more prevalent in a number of other countries, such as Sweden (22%) and Switzerland (23%), where overall satisfaction with investments made in 2011 was lower (37% and 18% respectively).

Almost one in 10 UK investors (9%) also said they regretted having been too conservative with their investment decisions during the year.

When asked what their top market concerns had been, 60% of UK investors mentioned the eurozone debt crisis and 52% were worried about current low levels of interest rates continuing. Looking forward, 43% of investors expressed concern over the prospect of a weak or prolonged economic recovery.

Commenting, Peter Beckett, head of international marketing at Schroders, said: "Our far-reaching study of affluent investor opinion, spanning 10 European countries, comes at a time when the region has been through major economic challenges and investors across Europe have been forced to revisit and reappraise their investment strategies.

“As investors consider their plans for 2012 amidst a bleak economic outlook, advice from independent financial advisers can help identify opportunities that offset the regrets they have identified during 2011."