The Great British Investment Divide: Northerners Twice as Likely to Feel Stock Market ‘Not for People Like Me’

A North/South investment divide still exists in the UK and millions of people feel culturally excluded from the stock market, new research by the investment platform Freetrade has found. 

The research, based on a nationally representative survey of 2,000 people across the UK, found that 62% did not currently invest. It is this group that the Government is aiming to target to turn the UK into an ‘investing nation’, but regional differences and perceived exclusivity remain a major hurdle. 

Nearly one in five (18%) of this group in the North said they did not invest because it is ‘‘not for people like me’. This is double the figure (9%) compared to those living in London.

The research found that nationally a third (32%) of those who do not currently invest have no interest in the stock market whatsoever. This figure holds regardless of income, with 30% of the same group who earn £60,000 or more still having no interest in investing. Over a quarter (27%) also said they feel like they do not have enough money to invest. 

This investing perception gap is having real world consequences on how people around the country manage their money. Londoners are the least reliant on cash savings (55%) and the most likely to be invested in the stock market (48%), showing a clear geographic divide in how wealth is managed. 

London remains Freetrade’s largest region for customers, even when relative populations are factored in. 

Viktor Nebehaj, Co-Founder and CEO, Freetrade, said: “Technology has removed the geographical barriers to the City, but the perception still holds for some that investing is only for the London bubble or the extremely rich.” 

“We need to break the myth that you need a huge salary or financial adviser to participate in the stock market. Even committing a small amount to a Stocks and Shares ISA every month will often beat returns on cash savings over time.”

New Tax Year, Same Discrepancies 

The data highlights a growing divergence in UK retail investor’s plans for the new tax year. London is currently the only region where more people plan to increase their investments (22%) than increase cash savings (19%). The trend is reversed across the rest of the country, where 22% plan to prioritise cash over just 13% for investments. 

Nebehaj added:  “Millions of people are leaving their money in cash and seeing inflation eat away at their savings because they feel the stock market is a private club for the wealthy. If we don’t tackle this now, we risk a generation of savers across the UK being left behind in a permanent cash trap while London captures the lions-share of future growth.”