Designing Targeted Support Final Report - Flipbook - Page 5
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Executive Summary
This research demonstrates the power of Targeted Support: when individuals are provided with investment
recommendations tailored to them, they invest more than when not given recommendations. In addition,
when recommendations are tailored to their attitudes to investing – such as their risk attitudes, their
preferences for UK-based investments, or their expectations of stock market returns – consumers invest
significantly more than when given generic recommendations based on demographics alone.
In an online large-scale randomised controlled trial of nearly 5,000 UK adults, Targeted Support designed for
consumer attitudes to investing increased the amount allocated to investments by up to 30% more compared
with demographic-based Targeted Support.
Our research found that Targeted Support is most effective when it addresses the factors which tend to deter
consumers from choosing to invest. Our survey evidence shows that investor attitudes such as aversion to
risk, expectations of low returns, and a preference for keeping money in the UK are statistically strong drivers
of consumers not investing.
Targeted Support designed for each of these attitudes causes large uplifts in investing. For example, when
individuals with a preference for keeping their money in the UK received a targeted recommendation to
invest in line with that preference (in a UK-based investment fund), they invested 47% more than comparable
individuals in the control group not given a targeted recommendation. Targeted recommendations made on
the basis of aversion to risk and expectations of low returns result in a 30% increase in investing compared
to comparable individuals in the control group not given a targeted recommendation. Targeted Support is
therefore effective at overcoming attitudinal barriers to investing.
The results also reveal that attitudes-based Targeted Support has larger effects among groups that previous
research has identified as less likely to invest. The increase in allocated investment due to Targeted Support
is 31% for women compared with 16% for men, and 53% for those who had never previously invested
compared with 14% for existing investors. These findings suggest that Targeted Support has particular
promise for broadening participation in investing across the population and could be an effective tool at
increasing inclusive investing.
Importantly, consumers reported high levels of comfort with the process of answering attitudinal questions
used to inform recommendations. On a scale of 0 to 10, average comfort scores ranged from 7.4 to 7.6 across
the attitudinal Targeted Support groups. This suggests that consumers are willing to answer questions about
their financial attitudes and preferences when they have the opportunity to convey meaningful information
about themselves.
This study was conducted in a hypothetical setting, and the precise magnitude of the effects observed here
may differ in real-world consumer journeys. Nevertheless, the scale and robustness of the findings provide
strong evidence that attitudinal Targeted Support represents a promising approach for improving consumer
investment outcomes. Further testing in real-world settings would be highly valuable.
For many years, TISA has called on the financial services industry, along with the Government and the FCA,
to identify and address the barriers to people investing. TISA and its members have demonstrably taken
action to do so and welcomes others to join forces to create better outcomes for consumers.
April 2026
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