Meet Savvy and get some investment tips
By Holly Mackay, Founder & CEO
24 April, 2026
An animated squirrel from M&C Saatchi – coming soon to a screen near you – has been tasked with leading efforts by the Government, the regulator and 20 large investment firms to get the nation investing.
Yesterday morning, I was invited to join a small group of Big Wigs at the Market Open ceremony at the London Stock Exchange, as Rachel Reeves rang the now digital bell to open trading and celebrate the launch of this new national investment campaign. I caught up with the chief execs of St James Place, Quilter, Hargreaves Lansdown and Aviva Wealth (who very kindly held my bag and lent me her corporate comms lady to take a photo, thanks Michelle for looking after us smallies!) and fangirled the cool CEO of the London Stock Exchange, Julia Hoggett.
I caught the investment bug about 30 years ago, staring at the flickering numbers on the Australian Stock Exchange boards, and seeing the greed, fear, aspiration and people behind the red and the green numbers. I love the human stories and the ideas behind the boring graphs and, as the 10 second countdown to Market Open kicked in yesterday, it was a real pinch-me moment for the girl who started her investing career as a lowly temp in Melbourne after backpacking there in the 90s!
Meet Savvy
Savvy the Squirrel has a clear message for Brits. You’ll see it digitally and on billboards at first. On your tellies from the Autumn. “Take the next step. Invest”.
Even if we might question handing an agency an enormous slice of wedge to come up with a squirrel – and a boy squirrel who seems curiously well-endowed to me in one awkward pic in swimming trunks – the character at the heart of this campaign is not the focus. The message is.
£1,000 in decent cash accounts over the last 20 years would have turned into about £1,425 now. In the S&P 500? Over £9,000. So why do so many of us leave everything in cash?
Investing is not gambling. Investing is not just for people called Tarquin. Investing is not something you need squillions to do.
In her words after the opening, Rachel Reeves was genuinely passionate about wanting to enable people to “have a small stake in the future of this great economy”. (Bond markets might reflect the current political woes of the Government with a mirror which is less than great, but that’s another story). The vibe is that more people should invest and own a slice of the economy and our future and I’m all in for that. #GoSavvy
Risk is a 4-letter word
At the same time, as the creatives were perfecting Savvy’s nuts, I have been working on a parallel project kicked off by the Chancellor last year to review the frightening risk warnings, which are slapped across most investment communications. These warnings have been heavy-handed and akin to British Airways telling anyone trying to book a flight how many aviation deaths there have been in the last year.
Our data shows that about three-quarters of cash-only savers think there is less than a 50% chance that £1,000 invested today will be worth more than £1,000 in 5 years. No wonder people aren’t investing if they think there’s no upside and all the warnings frighten the hell out of them.
Working with the regulator, this project has given the industry new guidelines on presenting a more balanced and helpful view. Wave goodbye to the old ‘Capital At Risk’ and other similar messages slapped willy-nilly on everything. And say hello to more helpful information.
Tips and ideas on the market outlook
Of course, risk has been front of mind for most of us over the last volatile 6 weeks. And no-one’s complacent about what the future might hold.
On Tuesday, we hosted a Market Outlook webinar with Marcus Brookes, Chief Investment Officer at Quilter Investors, and Tom Stevenson, Investment Director at Fidelity International. We’ve summarised key takeouts in this excellent piece, which is well worth a read. Despite clear concerns about ongoing conflict and high oil prices pushing inflation back up as growth stutters, Marcus and Tom were pretty positive. Some key takeouts:
Markets are actually higher now than they were pre-conflict. The Big Tech Dogs release earnings data next week, but people are optimistic about what the growth numbers will say. Despite global woes, lots of big companies are making lots of money.
The old 60:40 rule is out of date (a rule of thumb, mostly for older investors, which said have 60%ish in shares and 40% in bonds. This rule is especially shaky in an environment where interest rates are heading up again. Both Marcus and Tom suggest other asset classes
to diversify include infrastructure and precious metals and they tabled a different 60:20:20 rule to consider.Marcus has been underweight the US for a while, largely because he thought tech was overvalued. However, valuations have come down and he’s now adding to his US holdings.
On gold, Tom’s point resonated with me. “Gold tends to move in very abrupt upward movements, and then it goes sideways or backwards for many years”.
We also discussed interesting sectors and markets, from Chinese bonds to Indian and Japanese shares. For those considering Japan, there’s also an interesting update from this week’s sponsor, JPMorgan Japanese Investment Trust.
Over and out for this week. Keep your eyes peeled for Savvy. Away from this boar (fun fact – I learned this week that a boy squirrel is a boar – Boaring Money?), I started the countdown to the weekend with an early swim in the Solent, with the sun on my face and a seal swimming alongside me. It’s a balmy 11 degrees in the water now. Bring on the summer!
Holly
Post a comment:
This is an open discussion and does not represent the views of Boring Money. We want our communities to be welcoming and helpful. Spam, personal attacks and offensive language will not be tolerated. Posts may be deleted and repeat offenders blocked at our discretion.
