Client research from IG reveals that geopolitical conflicts and wars are now the primary concern for UK traders in recent times.
The study surveyed a total of 2,750 clients from the UK (500), Australia (350), Singapore (85), Germany (150) and Japan (1600). It was aimed at understanding clients’ sentiment and their confidence levels and concerns, by studying their financial goals, ambitions, financial markets, portfolio performance, and future trading intentions.
Key UK highlights from IG Group Client Sentiment Study:
Geopolitical conflicts and wars (58 per cent) now rank as the primary concern amongst respondents, followed by recession (46 per cent), and inflation (45 per cent).
A majority (67 per cent) of IG UK retail traders and investors are worried about the cost-of-living crisis. Despite that, only 6 per cent of clients said they plan to cut back on trading and 7 per cent plan to cut back on investing.
While UK clients remained concerned about the state of their economy the level of concern has reduced compared to June last year.
IG clients are striving for financial freedom across all markets, although the focus for IG traders in the UK is “saving up for retirement” (56 per cent).
In terms of sectoral outlook, 28 per cent of UK clients believe that “Energy” (28 per cent) will experience the largest growth in the next six months, followed by “Technology Hardware and Equipment” (24 per cent) and “Software and services” (23 per cent).