Affluent investors feel pressure of downturn too

Three quarters of Europe’s ‘affluent investors’ say they have been negatively impacted by the economic instability of the last few years, according to new research.

A YouGov poll of 1,400 investors commissioned by Schroders also found one in five (21%) were concerned they may have to put back retirement and work longer than they had planned.

Schroders said the poll dispelled the myth that affluent investors had not been affected by the global recession.

Peter Beckett, head of European marketing, added the study "gave a voice" to a vital segment of Europe's investors.

"Leaving the rich and poor aside, the affluent are the segment of society that underpin tax regimes, provide the captains of industry and are often the catalysts for growth," he said.

"It is clear from our research that, across Europe, affluent investors are feeling the impact of economic instability and are waking up to a worrying retirement gap."

Schroders defines an ‘affluent investor' as one that has over €100,000 of invested assets, excluding their home.

Across the 10 European countries surveyed, the vast majority of respondents said they had been negatively impacted by economic stability, with people in Italy (93%), France (89%), Spain (88%), and Switzerland (81%) the most likely to claim negative impact.

Whilst people in Sweden, the UK and Austria claimed to be the least affected, Schroders said the figure for negative impact never fell below 69%.

Asked to define their investment concerns, respondents picked the Eurozone debt crisis (49%); rising inflation (34%); a weak or prolonged recovery (32%); general market volatility (30%); and current low levels of interest rates continuing (29%).

Non-Eurozone countries UK (60%), Switzerland (60%) and Sweden (50%) rated the Eurozone debt crisis as their top investment concern. Euro members Italy (49%), Spain (57%) and Belgium (43%), on the other hand, rated increasing taxes as their main worry.