Barclays : Investors remain optimistic despite fears around coronavirus variants, inflation and market bubble

• Barclays Smart Investor reveals UK investors' fears and predictions for the stock market, with 59 per cent remaining optimistic for the year ahead
• After new coronavirus variants, inflation is the biggest concern for retail investors
• Investors predict sustainable energy, technology, healthcare and biotech industries will perform best over the next five years

New research from Barclays Smart Investor reveals UK investors' latest fears and predictions for the stock market, as they look ahead to the rest of 2021 and a post-pandemic recovery.

The poll of over 2,000 UK investors, acting as a barometer of investor sentiment, revealed that new coronavirus variants are the biggest fear, with almost two thirds of investors (65 per cent) concerned about the potential impact on financial markets. This was closely followed by fears of inflation (59 per cent) and a so-called market 'bubble' bursting by the end of 2021 (50 per cent). Investors also raised concerns of a potential tech bubble coming to an end, with 42 per cent worried about stocks in the sector decreasing in value over the next six months.

Despite these concerns, three in five investors (59 per cent) are feeling optimistic about financial markets for the rest of this year. Two thirds of UK investors (63 per cent) believe that pandemic-hit industries such as hospitality and travel would bounce back, with 60 per cent confident that the vaccine rollout would help markets.
Moving from the shorter term to a longer term outlook, UK investors predict that sustainable energy, technology, healthcare and biotech industries will be the best performers over the next five years, with tobacco, mining, and oil and gas industries performing the worst.

UK Investor predictions for the best and worst performing sectors for gains:

Short to medium term predictions (Next 5 years)	Long-term predictions (Over 5 years)
Best performing sectors	Worst performing sectors	Best performing sectors	Worst performing sectors
1	Sustainable Energy	1	Tobacco	1	Sustainable Energy	1	Tobacco
2	Healthcare and Biotech	2	Oil, gas and energy	2	Technology	2	Oil, gas and energy
3	Technology	3	Mining	3	Environmental	3	Mining
4	Environmental	4	Hospitality	4	Healthcare	4	Retail
5	Real Estate	5	Retail	5	Real Estate	5	Hospitality

Will Hobbs, Chief Investment Officer at Barclays Wealth, commented: 'It's great to see that investors are generally optimistic on the market outlook - and reassuring that many are still cautious when it comes to predicting the future, and the pathway out of the pandemic, with too much confidence. We don't yet know what the long term effects of the pandemic will be on the global economy, but many experts are predicting that COVID-19 will be the catalyst for industrial revolution. With such change comes real opportunity for investors - but it's very difficult to pin point exactly which industries or sectors will truly benefit from this innovation. With this in mind, investing in a diversified set of assets will give investors the best chance of benefiting from whatever the future economy holds'.

Notes to editors:
All data, unless otherwise specified is taken from 2,000 respondents of a representative sample size conducted by Censuswide in July 2021 - all respondents were 18+ and had previously invested money.. Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.