Lack of financial literacy prevents UK savers from investing, according to Capital.com research

This morning a new report has been published that reveals confusion and misinformation are the biggest barriers to retail investor participation

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 13.11.2025

Britons are being held back from investing by a lack of financial education, according to new research by high-growth retail trading platform, Capital.com. 

The research, titled Fear or Fortune? , found that eight in 10 adults feel too nervous to invest, with confusion and misinformation emerging as the biggest barriers to participation.

The research, based on a survey of 1,004 UK adults, revealed that only 13% of low-level investors — those who stick to traditional savings products like ISAs and pensions — feel confident about their investment knowledge.

Confidence drops sharply as products become more complex, from 88% familiarity with savings accounts to under 10% for stocks, ETFs, and other investment vehicles.

Meanwhile, 92% of low-risk investors think cryptocurrencies and other alternative assets are extremely high risk, followed by stocks and shares (87%).

In other words, the cornerstone of our capital markets, listed UK companies, are being lumped into the same risk category as highly volatile alternative assets.

The research also revealed that low-level investors are held back by fear, with a third (34%) citing concerns about online scams as the main reason for their reluctance to invest.

A lack of understanding about inflation further compounds the issue.

While mid-level investors grasp the risk of inflation eroding savings, low-level investors only recognise its impact once it’s explained.

This suggests that education, not appetite, is the missing link between saving and investing.

“This is fundamentally a literacy issue,” said Rupert Osborne, CEO of Capital.com UK.

“We’re seeing a generation of people who want to invest, but lack the understanding to do so safely and confidently.

When nearly nine in 10 can’t tell the difference between the risk of investing in FTSE-listed companies and speculative crypto assets, it’s clear the education gap is costing the economy.”

Capital.com’s findings follow close on the heels of the Chancellor's backing, in her Mansion House speech, for a new advertising campaign to encourage more people to invest in stocks and shares.

The Government also released its landmark Financial Inclusion Strategy 2025, which sets out plans to embed financial education across the UK and improve financial capability for all citizens.

The strategy includes a new financial literacy curriculum that will make money management and investment basics a core part of the national curriculum in both primary and secondary schools in England by 2028.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Barclays both recently identified that there are approximately 15m UK adults holding over £610b

n in excess cash savings, above six months income, and as such have the greatest potential to invest in a wider range of assets such as shares and stocks.