Research

True Potential PUFin’s research, like our personal finance modules, focuses on real-world personal finance issues that affect people in their everyday lives.

The UK’s low level of personal saving has been the subject of a great deal of research and debate – and a great many bad news headlines. There are various reasons why we don’t ‘do the right thing’ when it comes to saving and investing, which mean we end up under-saving, over-borrowing, and making poor investment decisions. Behavioural economics shows that a big part of the underlying problem is how we think and feel about saving and investing – and how firms respond to our attitudes and behaviours. The problem is well-understood and well-evidenced – but we know much less about what actually works to improve consumer outcomes in saving and investing. As a result, the UK remains poorly prepared for unexpected events and for retirement.

The research themes adopted by the Centre can be summarised as follows:

• The role of financial education in financial capability
• Explaining the world of finance
• Comparing personal finance issues across time and across borders
• Personal finance in a socio-economic context.

Please see our Working Papers, our Green Papers and White Papers under Resources & Events.

Current research projects include:

• Understanding the impact of financial education on the Just About Managing, funded by Money Advice Service (Will Brambley)
• Evaluating the impact of targeted financial education on young adults, funded by the Chartered Accountants Livery Company (Martin Upton)
• The role of FinTech in personal finance (Jonquil Lowe)
• The evolution of diversification as a risk management tool from the 19^th century to the present day (Janette Rutterford)