One of the most pronounced trends in the retail investor market in the UK in recent years has been the unprecedented investment and trading boom. Echoing trends in countries such as the US and spurred on by the proliferation of apps and platforms that make it easier for “regular” people to own stocks, more people than ever are now trading and investing on their own in the UK.

While we all know that retail investment is enjoying something of a golden age right now, what might be less clear to some is exactly how Brits are choosing to invest their cash. Let’s take a closer look at the top investment trends among the UK public in 2022. 

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Equity funds

There’s no doubt about it, equity funds remain the most popular investment vehicle for swatches of the UK population. Equity funds are funds that are usually backed by investment banks and which invest in a mixture of assets on behalf of clients. Typically, equity funds will consist mostly of stocks, with a percentage of bonds and perhaps some other assets such as commodities just to keep things mixed. Some of the most popular equity funds in the UK have billions of pounds invested in them, with tens of thousands of people participating. 

CFDs

CFDs, or Contracts for Difference, are an interesting type of asset. As this expert guide to what is CFD trading nicely explains, these are instruments that allow traders to speculate on the future price movements of assets without owning the asset outright. Instead, the trader can open a large position on an asset with a fraction of the funds that would usually be required, allowing them to attempt to make larger profits on smaller price movements. The element of risk still remains however and should be considered. The likes of The Guardian and The Telegraph have covered the huge and growing popularity of CFDs in the UK, which looks set to rise to a whole new level in 2022.

ESGs

One trend that few in the City of London saw coming was the huge importance that retail investors now attach to ethical, sustainable investments. Known as Environmental, Social, and Governance, ESG describes criteria that a growing proportion of investors are using to choose assets that are not making the world a worse place. Typically, an ESG fund will contain stocks in companies that produce green energy, practice sustainable farming, or are known to pay suppliers a living wage. This way, companies can be incentivized to make more ethical choices in order to attract future investment. 

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Crypto 

Let’s not forget about crypto. Although the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum have taken a nosedive recently, it seems that the faith of Brits has not yet been visibly shaken. About 3.3 million people in the UK now own a cryptocurrency, putting the country near the top of the global league tables when it comes to per capita crypto ownership. If current investments trends continue (which is anything but certain), crypto could come to dominate the retail investment landscape in 2022. 

These are some of the main ways that Brits are choosing to invest their money in 2022. How does your investment strategy compare? 

Smith & Nephew have released a robust set of 2021 results with its share price up 2% to 1,202p at the time of writing.

The FTSE 100 company also announced that it had opted to hire Dr Deepak Nath as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

He is set to succeed Roland Diggelmann, who has reportedly stepped down in mutual agreement with the company.

Nath is scheduled to take over the role in 1 April 2022 following Diggleman’s departure on 31 March 2022.

“Smith & Nephew is a great company with innovation at its core and a purpose of Life Unlimited, supporting patients around the world in returning to a healthy and fulfilled life,” said Nath.

“I am honoured to have been given the opportunity to lead the business. I look forward to building on Smith & Nephew’s rich history and heritage and working with the team to take it to the next level of growth.”

Diggleman added: “It has been a privilege to lead Smith & Nephew. I would like to thank my colleagues across the business for their tireless efforts to support our customers and communities, and continue to deliver against the backdrop of COVID.”

“I look forward to seeing the business go from strength to strength under Deepak ‘s leadership.”

Financial highlights in the past year included revenue of $5,212 million compared to a 2020 revenue of $4,560 million, which marked a 14.3% on a reported basis and 10.3% on an underlying basis for the company.

The company also reported that its operating profits had doubled from $295m to $593m.

Smith & Nephew further reported that its sports Medicine & ENT and Advanced Wound Management revenue had returned to above pre-COVID levels.

However, the company also reported that its performance in orthopaedics had been impacted by ongoing global supply chain constraints.

“Smith & Nephew needed an end to the pandemic and the sense of a fresh start was underlined alongside its latest full year numbers as the company announced the departure of CEO Roland Diggelmann,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

Smith & Nephew confirmed a full-year dividend of of 37.5¢ per share, matching its 2020 and 2019 offerings to shareholders.

“We finished 2021 with a solid fourth quarter, despite nearly a week less trading than in 2020 and the impact of Omicron, which affected the typical quarter-end pick up in average daily sales,” said Diggleman.

“For the full year we delivered on our guidance commitments on both the top and bottom line.”

“We are beginning to see our step up in R&D investment bear fruit, and all three franchises contributed to our double-digit revenue growth.”

“Pleasingly, our Sports Medicine & ENT and Advanced Wound Management franchises delivered revenue above pre-COVID 2019 levels.”

“Performance was held back by global supply chain challenges, which particularly impacted our Orthopaedics franchise.”

“Looking to the future, we have set out our new Strategy for Growth with an ambition to transform to a structurally higher growth company, including clear medium-term revenue and trading profit margin targets.”

Smith & Nephew currently boast an operational foothold across the globe, focusing on advanced wound management, orthopaedics and trauma and sports medicine.

New data has found that the number of women in FTSE 100 boardroom roles has now reached 39.1%.

This number is up from the 12.5% it was 10 years ago. The lack of diversity is still clear, however, explains the Fawcett Society due to the lack of positions held by “women of colour, disabled women and LGBTQ people missing from positions of power”.

“The devil is in the detail here. In the majority of boardrooms men continue to be overrepresented. When we look at the most senior positions of CEO and chair the progress is painfully slow,” said Jemima Olchawski, the Fawcett Society’s chief executive.

The new stats came from the group’s 2022 Sex and Power Index, which found that women only make up 8 of the 100 CEOs of FTSE companies.

“It is excellent to see the progress being made but we know there is more to be done.” She said the government plans to put forward measures to advance workplace equality but gave no further details,” said Liz Truss, the minister for women and equalities.

Hargreaves Lansdown has reported a fall in profits for the first half of its financial year, down from £188.4m to  £151.2m.

Revenues at the group were also down from £299.5m a year ago to £291.9m. However, bosses have confirmed that the Bristol-based firm is ready for growth and the number of active clients increased by 48,000.

Chris Hill, the chief executive officer of Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “In the first half of this financial year, we saw a gradual return to the office and calmer markets which led to more normalised share trading levels, albeit still higher than before the pandemic.”

“As the market leader, with a stronger than ever 43.3% market share, now is the right time to target the broader wealth management market and set a new standard for how the UK saves and invests,” he added.

The group increased its dividend 3% to 12.26 pence per share.

At the time of writing, shares were down over 20% (0859GMT).