Savvy the Squirrel: nifty or nuts?

The UK Government is attempting to get more people in Britain investing with a brand new campaign centred around a savvy squirrel, with the strapline “Take The Next Step Invest”.

Here’s what this campaign’s all about, why this is happening, the companies that are backing the initiative, and where to find the official government site with all the details.

What is the UK government savvy squirrel campaign?

It’s slightly confusing because the official name for this overarching government initiative is actually “Invest For The Future”.

And then as part of that, the government has introduced “Savvy the Squirrel” for its public service advertising campaign that directs prospective retail investors to a website titled “Take The Next Step Invest”. All a little bit confusing.

What is the government retail investing campaign about?

The main purpose of the Savvy the Squirrel campaign is to attempt to get more British savers to start investing some of that money, instead of simply squirrelling it away in bank accounts.

Finder research found that only a quarter of UK adults (26%) have a stocks and shares ISA, while almost half of Brits (46%) have a cash ISA.

The basic premise is to provide some basic educational materials and then direct people to places where they can invest. However, not all of the sponsors of the campaign are investing platforms or brokers, so it might not appear to be a completely clear journey for someone who’s never invested before.

Which companies are taking part in the campaign?

It’s slightly unusual, but the government has separated the backers of this new initiative into two categories: “gold sponsors” and “sponsors”. Here are the companies that are (presumably) helping to fund the campaign:

Gold partners

• Barclays
• Hargreaves Lansdown
• NatWest

Partners

• Alliance Witan
• Aviva
• Fidelity
• HSBC
• The Investment Association
• Janus Henderson Investment Trusts
• Jupiter
• L&G
• Lloyds
• London Stock Exchange
• Quilter
• Robinhood
• Schroders
• St. Jame’s Place
• Vanguard
• Xtrackers by DWS

The government site also says the campaign is supported by Moneyhelper, the FCA and of course, the UK Government. It also appears like some popular brands such as Trading 212, Freetrade, AJ Bell, Octopus Money, and interactive investor decided to withdraw support for the campaign.

Our expert says: Why is the UK Government trying to encourage people to invest?

"The data shows that long-term investors massively outperform long-term savers. So, encouraging more people in the UK to invest should, in theory, help create more collective wealth for the country.

The other motivation is that with more people investing, some of this investment may trickle into UK companies, which could help create a better overall environment for UK shares, which have been struggling to compete for investor’s cash against the likes of high-flying US stocks.

However, some commentators believe that this approach isn’t necessarily the best way to encourage more investment into UK companies and something like Stamp Duty reform would be much more impactful."

George Sweeney, DipFA

Deputy editor

Who introduced this initiative?

It was a collective effort but it partly comes from the UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves. We saw in the latest Budget that she would be cutting people’s cash ISA allowance down from £20,000 to £12,000 per year in an attempt to get more people in the UK investing money, instead of just saving it.

How much did the campaign cost?

There are mixed figures appearing about the cost of launching this initiative. Estimates range from £20 million to £50 million.

According to some reports, part of the reason several firms dropped out was due to the mounting costs of the campaign, and it appears the government has given preference to the brands fronting up the most cash (instead of the most beginner-friendly investing apps).

Where can you find out more information about the campaign?

So, there is the government site, but it’s a little bit hard to find because the name of the official site is “takethenextstepinvest”. This has been challenging for people to find because the official site name has nothing to do with Savvy the Squirrel or the Invest For The Future organisation that set up the initiative. To add to the confusion, the domain “savvysquirrel” was already taken (so that site – which is unrelated – is likely to be enjoying a surge in traffic right now).

There’s an official Instagram account and one for Linkedin too.

Written by

George Sweeney, DipFA

Deputy editor

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George is a deputy editor at Finder. He has previously written for The Motley Fool UK, Nasdaq, Freetrade, Investing in the Web, MoneyMagpie, Online Mortgage Advisor, Wealth, and Compare Forex Brokers. He's focused on making personal finance and investing engaging for everyone. To do this he draws from previous work and his Level 4 Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA), sharing what he’s learnt. When he’s not geeking out about money, you’ll find him playing sports and staying active. See full bio

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