Investor sentiment in financial services is at its highest level since 2012, with 56% of investors looking to invest in the sector in the next six months, according to the latest Halifax Share Dealing Market Tracker.
The financial services sector has overtaken energy & mining in terms of investor sentiment, although 49% of investors also said they were planning to invest there too before the end of the year. These two, together with consumer & retail products: (beverages, health, tobacco, pharmaceuticals) (41%) represent the top three industry sectors currently being targeted by investors.
With the short term uncertainty in the markets influenced by talk of interest rates, Eastern Europe, and the tensions in Iraq, optimism for the outlook of the FTSE has been tempered compared to the previous month.
While very short term (one month) optimism in the performance of the FTSE 100 improved, short (six month), medium (1 year) and long term (5 year) views all fell in June, with 44.6% of investors expecting the FTSE 100 to be higher at the end of the year compared to 50% who said the same in May.
Damian Stansfield, managing director of Halifax Share Dealing, said: “Short term investor sentiment can be volatile, but the financial services sector is currently attracting a great deal of attention from retail investors. However, there is no substitute for research; as ever, past performance alone is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
“There are many different factors to examine when making any investment decision, but the most important thing is that investors satisfy themselves through their research that the investment stacks up.”
The majority of retail investors (61.8%) believe the value of their portfolio has increased over the last six months, compared to 12% who thought it has fallen, and 26.2% who think it has remained flat.
Financial services is still the widest held sector among investors, with more than three quarters (73.7%) of investors currently investing here – up from 60% last month and the highest level since the Tracker began in January 2012.
