By Invesco has launched the Personalised Investor Engine, a behavioural technology platform designed to help banks and investment providers encourage more savers to move from holding cash to making long-term investments.
The platform, known as PIE, is aimed at financial institutions rather than individual investors.
Invesco said it uses behavioural insights to identify why customers hesitate to invest and tailor interactions at points including account onboarding, funding, first investments, additional contributions and withdrawals.
The launch comes as European policymakers and financial firms seek ways to encourage greater participation in capital markets.
The European Commission said in 2025 that about €10 trillion of household savings in the European Union was held in bank deposits, representing about 70% of household savings.
Invesco’s Personalised Investor Engine is built around three stages. The first uses behavioural profiling and segmentation to identify characteristics such as confidence, composure, impulsivity and financial comfort that may influence investment decisions.
The second stage uses those insights to personalise customer interactions. Invesco said the system can provide tailored prompts and different ways of presenting information at key stages of the investment journey.
The third stage integrates the technology into existing digital services operated by banks and investment platforms, rather than requiring institutions to replace their existing customer proposition.
Invesco said the platform was developed with behavioural science expertise from Oxford Risk. The company said its research indicates that different barriers can require different interventions, including barriers related to trust in financial institutions and individuals’ confidence in making investment decisions.
The technology follows an Invesco study involving 6,000 people in Britain, Germany and Italy that examined why savers continue to hold money in cash despite expressing interest in investing.
According to the study, 71% of UK savers surveyed said they were interested in investing, compared with 67% in Germany and 65% in Italy. Invesco said many respondents nevertheless did not take the first step into investing.
The research identified fear as a significant barrier. Invesco said 53% of interested savers surveyed cited fear as an obstacle, compared with 40% who cited lack of knowledge and 23% who cited insufficient capital. The figures are based on Invesco’s survey and therefore reflect the company’s research methodology and sample rather than a universal measure of investor behaviour.
Sonia Bainbridge, Invesco’s head of digital distribution for EMEA, said the financial services industry had made investing more accessible but that many consumers still did not move from interest to action.
“Our research suggests the challenge is no longer access, it’s activation,” Bainbridge said, according to Portfolio Adviser.
The launch also reflects a broader policy focus in Europe on moving savings towards capital markets. The European Commission’s Savings and Investments Union strategy seeks to increase retail participation in capital markets and improve access to investment opportunities.
The Commission said its strategy is intended to improve the way savings are channelled into productive investment while giving households more opportunities to participate in capital markets.
The European Commission has estimated that around €10 trillion of EU retail savings is held in bank deposits.
Its strategy cites analysis by the European Central Bank suggesting that, if European households moved closer to the deposit-to-financial-assets ratio seen among U.S. households, as much as €8 trillion could potentially be redirected into market-based investments, equivalent to about €350 billion annually.
Invesco’s research also estimated a potential opportunity associated with the difference between holding savings in cash and investing them.
The company said that, if households had directed half of their annual savings contributions into a globally diversified equity portfolio between 2015 and 2025, they could potentially have generated an additional €1.16 trillion collectively.
That figure is a hypothetical calculation rather than an observed investment return and depends on the assumptions used in the analysis.
The Personalised Investor Engine is being positioned as a technology layer that can work across existing investment products and digital customer journeys. Invesco said the system is intended to support banks, digital investment platforms and other financial institutions seeking to increase investment participation.
Invesco has also highlighted its relationship with Zopa Bank, saying the two companies began a partnership in 2025 to help make investing easier to understand and support customers in building for the future.
Zopa’s senior director of wealth, Natasha Wear, said behavioural intelligence and targeted interventions could help customers feel more informed and confident about taking their first investment step.
The development comes as financial institutions increasingly use digital tools to personalise customer experiences.
Invesco said PIE can also be used to support existing investors, including through additional contributions, continued participation during periods of market uncertainty and re-engagement with dormant accounts.
For investors, the technology does not itself remove the risks associated with investing. Invesco’s own product information states that investment values and income can fluctuate and that investors may not recover the full amount invested.
The company also describes its material as marketing information rather than financial advice.
The launch places behavioural finance alongside digital infrastructure as financial institutions look beyond simply providing access to investment products.
The central question for providers is increasingly how to help customers understand their choices and take action while recognising the financial and behavioural risks involved.
