Investors turn their backs on passive tactics

Following two years of poor stock market returns, advisers may ask whether there will be an Isa season in 2003. In fact, the impact of falls in the last two years creates negative returns for five consecutive Plan years if investors bought their Isa (or pre-98 Pep) in March each year. This is based on an investment into the average UK or International equity fund. It is therefore no surprise that investor sentiment, which is strongly correlated to sales of retail investment products like Isas, has dropped to very low levels. A number of measures show that short-term investor confidence ...