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Where are the consumer voices? Concerns over government-backed investment campaign

ended 24. April 2026

We are gathering expert views on the government-backed “Savvy the Squirrel” campaign, which aims to encourage more people to invest.

Scott Gallacher of Rowley Turton has raised concerns about both the messaging and the balance of voices involved:

"The messaging feels completely wrong. The website itself even uses the phrase ‘savings squirrelled away’ to describe safe, accessible money — yet the campaign fronted by ‘Savvy the Squirrel’ is encouraging people to invest, which involves risk and volatility. Even the imagery reinforces the wrong message, as squirrels store for short-term survival, not long-term growth. If a financial adviser used similar language or imagery to promote investing, I’d expect they’d be pulled up sharply by the FCA for potentially misleading clients. It’s surprising — and slightly disappointing — that a campaign backed by such experienced organisations has ended up with messaging that feels so off the mark.”

He also questioned the apparent lack of independent consumer or advice representation: 

"While bodies like the FCA and MoneyHelper are involved, there appears to be limited visible representation from independent consumer or advice organisations. If you were launching a campaign about car ownership, you would expect organisations like the AA or Which? to be involved to represent the consumer’s interests.”

Your views ASAP please.

5 responses from the Newspage community

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Scott Gallacher
Director at Rowley Turton
The concern isn’t the aim — getting more people to invest is sensible. The issue is balance. With providers involved and little obvious emphasis on independent advice, there’s a risk of nudging people towards decisions they may not fully understand, particularly given the well-known advice gap
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Anita Wright
Chartered Financial Planner at Ribble Wealth Management
This campaign is being held to a lower standard than the industry it is trying to promote. If a financial adviser produced a campaign using squirrel imagery and the phrase "squirrelled away" to nudge clients towards investment products carrying market risk, the FCA's Consumer Duty framework would be all over it. The requirement to ensure communications are clear, fair and not misleading is not optional, and it does not have a carve out for government backed initiatives fronted by animated rodents. There is an elephant in the room or perhaps a squirrel on the letterhead that the campaign's creators have not addressed openly enough. Several of the commercial providers involved in this initiative have a direct financial interest in new investors opening accounts and putting money to work. Directing first time investors towards investment products without visible signposting to advice is not democratising finance. It is democratising risk
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Tony Redondo
Founder at Cosmos Currency Exchange
Typical of a government woefully short on business experience, let alone financial services expertise, they have settled on a cute CGI squirrel that is too safe, too cosy and, ironically, too squirrel-like, when the entire point of the campaign is to encourage people to embrace risk. Far from empowering the audience it needs to reach, it risks infantilising them. Worse still, it's hardly an original idea: the Abbey National ran an ISA campaign featuring a squirrel back in 2006, and JPMorgan's Nutmeg ditched its own red squirrel in 2021, pointedly saying its clients had 'grown up.' The government, it seems, hasn't.
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Paul Denley
CEO at Oakham Wealth Management
The intent is understandable: broadening participation in investing is a worthwhile goal. However, the execution risks blurring an important line. Encouraging first time investors without equal emphasis on aspects such as risk, time horizon & suitability creates an imbalance that sits uncomfortably within the context of regulated advice.
The squirrel analogy may not be ideal. Squirrels reportedly misplace 10–25% of the nuts they bury! Also, one hopes Savvy's portfolio isn't about to be mauled by a dog fund...
There is a legitimate question around representation too. A government backed initiative should lean heavily on independent consumer & advice voices to ensure the messaging is robust, balanced, and grounded in real client outcomes, rather than simply focused on raising participation.
Used well, campaigns like this can nudge behaviour positively. Otherwise, they can risk encouraging people into markets without the context needed to stay invested when volatility inevitably arrives.
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Antonia Medlicott
Founder & MD at Investing Insiders
Investor education is absolutely something to be encouraged. The UK lags far behind many other developed nations when it comes to the proportion of adults who invest. And I'm glad to see the government addressing that and recognising it's a missed opportunity for households to build wealth.

But, this website alone isn't likely to make a big difference. Sending people to a list of investment platforms with no tools that allow them to compare fees, work out what's best for their budget and goals, and with barely any guidance on how to actually choose what to invest in, will likely result in most people giving up when they realise it's not just a question of one click and your money is in the stock market. That's not to say investing should be presented as complicated: it certainly doesn't have to be. But new investors are quite rightly nervous about decisions that could cost them money. We need to recognise what a big step this is for most people - and give them a whole toolkit.