Key themes
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Volatility reveals the value of advice
10 min read
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Adapting to volatility and building resilience
10 min read
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Advice in an age of abundant information
10 min read
Investors are more optimistic than advisers when it comes to markets and personal finances, while advisers take a slightly more positive view of the economic outlook. The biggest gap is in personal finance, where consumer confidence is notably higher than adviser sentiment (66 vs 52).
*The M&G Investor Confidence Index is calculated from the three themes explored in the tabs below: Economy (geopolitics, the UK economy, inflation and interest rates), Markets (market volatility, equity returns and bond returns) and Personal finance (household income, household savings and investment returns). Responses to these questions are converted into overall sentiment scores for each theme, which are then averaged to produce the overall M&G Investor confidence index score.
For 2026, the new question 'The return on my investments' has been added to the personal finance pillar, but had no impact on the overall score. The trend results remain comparable.
- Economy
- Market
- Personal finance
Do you expect the following to trend up or down over the next 12 months?
Do you expect the following to trend up or down over the next 12 months?
Do you expect the following to trend up or down over the next 12 months?
*Adviser view on level of clients
To what extent, if at all, do you agree or disagree with the following statements with regard to your current and planned investments, including your pension?
*A smoothed fund is designed to help reduce the impact of short-term
market ups and downs by spreading returns over time, which can
make investment journeys feel more stable. This means your
investment may not go down as much when markets fall, but also
means returns may lag sharp market rises, and smoothing does not
remove the risk of loss.
‘Unsure’ was not an option provided in the previous 2025 launch.
Methodology
We surveyed 500 men and women from across the UK, aged 18 and over, who actively keep track of their investments, representing both advised and non-advised investors. They are grouped into three categories: advised investors with more than £100,000; non-advised investors with more than £100,000 (described as 'affluent')'; and non-advised investors with less than £100,000 invested (described as 'non-affluent')'. Censuswide carried out the research between 6 and 12 February 2026.
In addition, we surveyed 150 UK-based financial advisers. Research in Finance carried out this survey between 17 and 20 February 2026.
We also carried out in-depth qualitative interviews with four advisers and four investors to help articulate the survey findings. The Agency Partnership conducted these interviews on behalf of M&G between 25 and 27 February 2026. Percentage numbers have been rounded up or down to the nearest whole number.
Download the full report
In the first edition we set out to understand how investors and advisers are experiencing uncertainty, how decisions are shaped in those moments and what helps clients stay confident in their choices.
