Parking spare cash in a savings account remains the norm for the majority of Europeans - particularly compared with Americans - with cash sitting idle and losing ground to inflation. But just how significant is the challenge of encouraging investment across generations on the continent?
The director general of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), Tanguy van der Werve, told Euronews’ Business Editor Angela Barnes on Friday just how staggering the numbers are.
“Only about 26% of EU households reported ever owning an investment product such as funds, stocks or bonds (Eurobarometer 509), while for the last three decades, more than 50% of US households reported stock market investments (Gallup poll).
“If you consider that an average diversified fund portfolio would have grown by over 50% from 2014–2023 (ESMA), far outpacing inflation, that is a lot of potential wealth-building Europeans are leaving on the table,” he said.
Van der Werve highlighted a number of reasons that could explain why Europeans prefer saving to investing, including taxation, financial literacy, risk appetite and pension systems.
