Rathbone Investment Management surveyed over 1,500 UK investors on their views of crypto-currencies.
According to new research, 37 per cent of under 35-year old UK
investors were planning to invest in crypto-currencies in the
future compared with just four per cent of those aged 45 or
more.
Rathbone Investment
Management surveyed more than 1,500 UK
investors. The sample was split between those with savings
of between £1,000 ($1,280) – £100,000, and those with over
£100,000 in savings or investable assets.
Some 31 per cent of the under 35s surveyed had invested in
crypto-currencies previously and planned to do so again in the
future. Almost a third (30 per cent) of investors with investable
assets of over £100,000 said they have invested in
crypto-currencies, and of those just over half (51 per cent) plan
to invest in crypto-currencies in the future.
In addition, the research found that men were more likely to be
attracted to crypto-currencies than women. Almost a fifth (19 per
cent) of men surveyed by Rathbones had invested in
crypto-currencies in the past, and 15 per cent planned to invest
in the future. In comparison just 14 per cent of women had
previously invested in crypto, and only 10 per cent planned to do
so in the future.
Of the 1,500 investors surveyed by Rathbones, just three per
cent said that they currently had their wealth invested in
crypto-currencies. In comparison 17 per cent of investors had
money in the stock market, 23 per cent in a stocks and shares
ISA, and almost half (48 per cent) in a cash ISA.
Enthusiasm for such tech-driven ventures is often more associated
with the young. Rathbones also suggested the younger generation
have a shorter-term time-horizon and more easily caught up in
certain fads and fashions.
“Lucrative returns made by the early adopters of bitcoin and
other crypto-currencies have been widely publicised,” said Robert
Szechenyi, investment director at Rathbones. “These early
investors have been followed by others looking to make similar
gains. Younger investors who perhaps have shorter investment
goals have been more susceptible to the bitcoin craze, whilst
older generations with their mind on retirement savings have
mostly stayed clear of what is a high-risk asset class.”
Szechenyi added: “Buying crypto-currencies can come back to bite
you. The bursting of the Bitcoin bubble this year is a clear
reminder of just how volatile these investments can be. While it
can be interesting to dabble in alternative asset classes such as
crypto-currencies, and the rewards can be there if you are lucky
with timing, we would not advise them to be a core part of an
investment portfolio, which should be diversified in order to
spread risk. The due diligence given to crypto-currencies is
nowhere near as rigorous as it is to more traditional asset
classes such as equities and the risk is correspondingly much
greater. The majority of investors will have a long-term goal in
mind – whether that be saving for a first-time home, retirement
or education – and that, along with a person’s appetite for risk,
should always be taken into account when making investment
decisions. If in doubt, talk to a financial expert.”
