Less than half (47%) of UK investors are satisfied with the performance of their portfolios over the past year, according to a new study by Raw Capital Partners.
Most (57%) of those surveyed credited their poor performance to heightened geopolitical tensions and economic volatility, noting it to be ‘more turbulent than at any other time in the past decade’.
As a result, around two in five (38%) are attempting to diversify their portfolios in an attempt to protect their savings against uncertainty.
The abundance of elections around the globe have contributed to this uncertain market environment, but even once they are out of the way, Raw’s interim managing director Ben Nichols warned “there could be more challenges to navigate”.
“We are by no means out of the woods when it comes to geopolitical conflict and economic headwinds, so it is important that investors continue to protect their portfolios against market volatility by assessing which asset classes and investment tactics can best enable them to achieve their long-term financial goals,” he said.
“Drawing on the benefits that diversification in non-correlated asset classes can provide will continue to reap rewards.”
Almost half (45%) of respondents said inflation had negatively impacted their investments and around a third (32%) said their returns had been deterred by high interest rates.
Now that inflation is declining in many parts of the world and most central banks are expected to cut rates from their current peaks, these headwinds could recede.
Almost half of those surveyed were still satisfied with portfolio performance over the past year despite these challenges, with 46 of the 50 sectors in the IA universe making a positive return over the period. And 18 of those were up over 10% throughout the past 12 months.
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