Financial advice and education are “more important than ever” as investors lack confidence about retirement and their long-term financial security, a study from Amundi has found.

Its global Decoding Investors study showed that although retirement sat at the centre of investors’ concerns, many lacked the confidence and knowledge needed to turn savings into long-term investment plans.

Personal savings and investments were the largest expected source of retirement income, with investors anticipating 42 per cent of their retirement pots would be funded by them, ahead of workplace and state pensions.

Despite this, only 36 per cent of investors cited retirement as a key motivation for investing.

Fewer than a quarter (23 per cent) of respondents felt ‘very confident’ about achieving long-term financial security, down from 26 per cent last year.

Amundi said this highlighted a clear gap between the importance investors place on retirement and their ability and confidence in being able to fund it.

The firm added that professional advice made a significant difference to how confident investors felt about retirement, with half of advised investors saying they were very confident about funding their retirement, compared to just 14 per cent of those how had never received advice.

Its study also highlighted a contrast between investors’ confidence and their actual level of financial knowledge, with 70 per cent of those who described themselves as ‘experts’ failing to answer three basic financial literacy questions correctly.

High net worth investors were the most confident but had the lowest literacy rates, with just 36 per cent answering all three questions correctly.

However, they were also more likely to seek advice from professional advisers (87 per cent) than retail investors (58 per cent).

While artificial intelligence (AI) usage was rising, with 70 per cent having used AI to help them make investment decisions, it was not replacing professional advice but being used to help confirm ideas or validate recommendations.

“While funding retirement becomes a central concern for households globally, the third edition of our Decoding Investors study highlights a pressing challenge: helping more savers become investors and enter capital markets,” said Amundi deputy general manager, head of clients group, Fannie Wurtz.

“For our industry, this means strengthening trust, improving access to investor education notably through digital channels and offering simple, transparent and accessible solutions.

“Drawing on its expertise, Amundi supports its clients in meeting this challenge through investment solutions, technology tools and support tailored to the long-term needs of saving.”

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