Wealthy Brits have £500k investment fund

MORE than 800,000 wealthy Brits have at least £500,000 to invest, new research has revealed.

Analysis of the UK's individual wealth found 820,000 people have personal assets of £500,000 or more, not including their property.

The most popular destination for investors' money is the property market, with 38% of cash being directed into housing.

Equities and bonds follow closely, with 26% of capital flowing into securities. Up to 13% is held in cash, with another 14% held in a range of other assets.

The research, by wealth management firm Brewer Dolphin, found the combined wealth of the 820,000 amounted to £692.31bn.

Brewin Dolphin Wealth Management chief executive Martin Smith said: 'The number of people in the UK with sizable assets is growing rapidly.'

Smith claimed the wealth management industry had let individual investors down because of high charges, a lack of understanding of clients and poor investment performance.

He claims high net worth individuals could be wasting £900m a year by paying over the odds for investment fees.

He said: 'I believe that the wealth management industry on the whole needs to step up it efforts to meet the needs of more discerning and in some cases, sceptical clients.'