The findings fit with reports that among different wealth brackets, including UHNW individuals, there are those who prefer to hunker down in cash than take certain risks.

Research from Invesco and the Centre for Economics and Business Research finds that fear of loss, rather than access or affordability, is now the main reason why UK, German and Italian savers keep cash uninvested.

The finding echoes recent reporting by this news service on unusually high cash allocations among some investor segments, including wealthier clients slow to deploy capital. (See examples here and here.)

Households in the UK, Germany and Italy could have generated an additional £1 trillion ($1.35 trillion) in collective wealth over the past decade had they invested part of their cash savings, the report showed. 

The study, based on a survey of 6,000 investors and savers across the three markets, modelled outcomes on households having invested a portion of their annual savings into a globally diversified portfolio between 2015 and 2025. Investing half of annual contributions would have added €526 billion ($607 billion) in Germany, £385 billion (€442 billion) in the UK and €192 billion in Italy. Even investing a quarter of savings would have generated an additional €580 billion across the three markets combined.

The research identifies fear of loss as the primary obstacle to investing, cited by 53 per cent of interested savers, ahead of lack of knowledge (40 per cent) and affordability concerns (23 per cent). The barrier persists even among wealthier households: 49 per cent of savers holding more than £100,000 in cash cited fear of losing money as a reason for not investing, compared with 36 per cent of those holding less than £20,000. 

National patterns varied. UK savers were the most self-directed, with 83 per cent managing at least some investments themselves, but they also reported the highest risk anxiety, with 42 per cent saying investing feels too risky. German savers prioritised simplicity and were more likely to cite affordability as a barrier. Italian savers, who were the most reliant on financial advice, with 45 per cent seeking guidance, were also the most likely to say they had no interest in investing at all, at 32 per cent.

EU policymakers are concerned that the preference for cash, even if it means foregone opportunities to earn more returns, is a major problem as populations age, putting pressure on state pension systems. A 2025 report by Observatoire de L’Epargne Européenne, on behalf of the AFG, the Employee and Retirement Savings Commission, noted that European households’ direct holdings of stocks are in single digits, just 6 per cent of total financial assets in the eurozone. Overall, the average holding of stocks by households in the euro area is 21 per cent of financial assets.