Up to 78 per cent of people do not ask for any form of financial advice before they decide where to invest their funds.

Research carried out by the Fair Investment Company found that the number of people not looking for investment assistance has increased by 14 per cent compared with six months ago.

The company suggested that a driving force behind this was the amount of information that is now available to those looking to invest their funds compared with previous years.

In addition, it was noted that investors are less cautious about investing in commodities other than cash, with 69 per cent stating that they had considered different sectors.

"Cash investments are simply not producing the returns people are looking for ... they are going to have to start taking some risks in order to start getting better returns," said George Ladds, head of investment and pension research with the company.

In addition, Defaqto recently found that investors are frequently opting for funds that are based outside of the UK.