Savings

Recession poses the biggest threat to investors, according to the Association of Investment Companies (AIC).

Research from the AIC found that 37% of active investors think a recession is the biggest threat to their finances, while 26% were most concerned about a stock market crash. Due to concerns over the credit crunch, 28% of the general public and 26% of active investors plan to reduce their spending and increase their saving.

AICs research also found that the general public was not overly confident about avoiding a recession, with 24% of people saying that a recession posed the biggest threat to their finances.

Despite people planning to save more, 70% of the general public will not be using their ISA allowance this year, with just 2% planning to take out a stocks and shares ISA, according to the AIC.

Tough stock market conditions have also caused a reduction in the number of investors planning to increase their investment portfolio. An estimated 38% of active investors said they planned to increase their investments in the next few months, down from 43% last February.