Twenty six per cent of UK investors are adopting short-term investment approaches for their portfolios due to levels of uncertainty surrounding the economic market outlook, Friends Life has stated. In contrast, Middle East and Far East investors are opting for longer strategies with 20 per cent of 1002 investors in Singapore choosing a three-year-plus horizon.

In a survey that was conducted among 1000 UK investors, Friends Life also revealed that 48 per cent believe that now is the time to invest in property compared to figures from the Friends Provident International (FPI) Investors Attitudes Report which showed that this was the least favoured asset class of a total of 2004 investors in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Friends Life Investments chief investment officer Mark Versey commented: “UK investors remain cautious in their outlook with almost a third keen to preserve their savings through risk-free investments.

“The reticence towards long-term saving is an interesting one; we need to understand whether this is driven by a lack of demand based on risk appetite and market outlook or perhaps more likely a lack of suitable low risk, long-term investment products to meet demand.”

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