Last month, Barclays published a report suggesting that there was more than £600bn worth of uninvested retail capital in the UK. That’s money savers have set aside but hold in low yielding cash products, as opposed to securities such as equities which are typically considered to deliver a superior return over time. Of course, there’s real value in a rainy-day fund of ready to access cash for when the proverbial roof does need fixing. However, the core challenge is not a singular focus on risk, but a fundamental lack of accessible financial education, which, despite a recent increase in available resources, has left a significant knowledge gap unaddressed.
Not only has this now created two or three generations of under-informed investors, but in many instances, people have built up excessive cash reserves potentially missing out on growth. That not only hampers their own wealth creation but also acts as a brake on wider UK economic growth.
Let’s make no mistake, the challenges faced by the UK equities market are multi-faceted – it’s not just about failings in financial literacy amongst retail investors. Whether that’s high listing costs, the fallacy of transaction taxes that bizarrely incentivise UK investors to buy shares in America’s Ford or Tesla over local Aston Martin to avoid paying stamp duty, impaired liquidity or any other number of factors, they all play a role. Thus, the question remains would better education fuel a more engaged investor base – a body that may in turn deliver more traction with politicians in getting the UK market back on track?
A fundamental understanding of investing basics has the power to transform the financial landscape for millions of UK citizens, potentially sparking a revolution in retail investing. But across the wider public, financial education continues to be consigned to the fringes of the school curriculum and those few lessons which are undertaken are done with limited resources.
When it comes to education, it’s something that if we as an industry embrace collectively rather than passing the buck, perhaps we can start to effect change. At Avenir Registrars, we have been working on a number of social media campaigns throughout 2025 where we break down some of the functions we provide our clients with, into a digestible and accessible format. The popularity of these “shorts” has been quite remarkable, both in terms of catching the eye of some big names in the City, but also in terms of broader engagement. As a securities registrar we know and accept that the general public will never be involved in the decision of selecting a registrar to an issuer, but that doesn’t stop us telling the story. In a world of programmatic advertising where every step of the marketing process is tracked with a laser-like focus on the numbers, many risk losing track of their responsibility as good corporate citizens. Explaining what we do in an open and transparent manner creates better understanding of financial markets and we believe starts to open up the debate to a bigger audience. It’s a small step but one we are proud to have taken at Avenir. Broader adoption of agendas like this can only be good for the longer term prospects of the market.
An amended version of this article originally appeared in the November 2025 version of AIM Journal. You can download a printable version here.