Only 4 in 10 people have decided so far to invest spare cash saved during the Coronavirus pandemic, according to new research.

Men were more likely to invest the excess cash into stock market-linked products than women.

Almost half of women (49%) with extra cash said they would avoid putting any spare money into stock market-related products, compared to 39% of men who have excess savings.

Some 17% of consumers with extra cash said they have yet to decide if and how they will invest the money.

Over a third (34%) of survey respondents were less willing to take investment risks now than before the Coronavirus crisis, they told researchers working for behavioural finance firm Oxford Risk.

Of those people with excess cash, 40% said they would invest some into stock market-related investment products such as pensions and equity ISAs. 

However, 13% said they will only put up to 10% into investment-related products, with 15% saying they will use between 10% and 30% of any spare cash. 

For those people planning to invest some of their excess cash, Oxford Risk’s research showed that only 12% intended to do so within the next month with 24% hoping to do so within two to three months. 

One in three (36%) said it would take three to six months to invest, and 21% believed it will take longer than this.

Greg Davies, head of behavioural finance at Oxford Risk, said: “The Coronavirus crisis has seen people spending less and saving more, and our research shows that for many individuals too little of this excess cash is likely to find its way into stock market-related investment products. Many are delaying when to invest and a key factor behind this is emotional concerns about short-term market volatility and about when is the best time to invest.  

“Sadly, many of the investment decisions retail investors make are for emotional comfort, and we estimate that on an average year this typically costs them 3% in returns. Having too much in cash and not investing can cost them around 4% to 5% a year over the long-term in foregone returns from this cash.”    

Some consumers told the behavioural finance firm that they have considerably larger amounts of cash than they would have had if not for the Coronavirus pandemic. Some 15% said they believe they have at least 10% more in cash, and 7% said they have over 20% more.  

Men were more likely to have excess cash. Only 11% of women said they have at least 10% more in cash, compared to 17% of men.

• The research was conducted by independent research company Consumer Intelligence among 1,036 adults aged 18-plus between 13 to 15 August 2021. The research sample was weighted to reflect the demographic profile of the UK.