A large number of ‘baby boomers’ - those aged 55-73 - have little appetite for investment risk and 39%  have ‘zero’ willingness to take a risk with their money, according to a survey.

Some 67% of baby boomers say they have a low or zero appetite to risk.

In contrast, only 17% of 18-34 year-olds would shun all investment risk, research by Aegon found.

Aegon blamed low use of financial advisers for the reason many boomers fail to understand risk and shun it as a result despite the potential for long term returns.

Over a quarter (26%) of baby boomers put their risk aversion down to concerns about making a wrong investment decision, but only one in four (25%) have sought financial advice.

Just 3% of baby boomers said they were ‘highly confident’ that their chosen investments will deliver strong returns over the next five to ten years, compared to one in ten aged 18-34.

Aegon says that despite baby boomers owning more than a third of the UK’s wealth, many were missing out on potential investment gains as they “lack confidence and knowledge about where to invest their money.”

Some 32% of those in the baby boomer age-bracket said that being financially cautious was “incredibly important” to them, and another 18% said family and friends would describe them as cautious.

When asked to place their risk appetite on a scale from zero to adventurous, two in five (39%) of over 55s admitted that they have zero risk appetite, with just 17% of those aged 18-34 saying the same. A further 28% of baby boomers described their risk appetite as low.

Looking at the reasons for this, over a quarter (26%) of baby boomers said that concerns about making a wrong investment decision impacts their attitude to taking risks. Despite this, just one in four (25%) in this age group have sought advice from a financial adviser.

One in five (20%) baby boomers say they don’t know what they view as a good return on investments over a 10 and 20 year period.

Nick Dixon, investment director at Aegon, said: “Our research shows that even though baby boomers have accumulated the most wealth, they are at risk of excessive caution and exposing their hard earned money to stagnation.

“The reality is that many baby boomers, in retirement or nearing that point, are ‘sleepwalking’ into poor financial decisions as a result of failing to seek financial advice.”

• Research was carried out for Aegon by Opinium in October 2018 among over 2,000 UK adults, weighted to be nationally representative.