Two-thirds of UK digital investors risk locked assets

More than two-thirds of UK adults who hold digital financial assets have not put in place a clear way for a trusted person to access those accounts if they die or become incapacitated, according to research from The Investors Centre.

The study found that 69.2% of digital investors met its definition of "access risk": people who have no confirmed access pathway for someone they trust and instead rely on device-based authentication or undocumented credentials.

The findings reflect how more personal wealth now sits in smartphone-based investing services, online platforms and crypto exchanges. Many accounts require passwords, authentication apps and personal devices. These safeguards reduce fraud, but they can also make legitimate access harder for executors and family members.

The Investors Centre based its findings on a nationally representative survey of 2,000 UK adults. In the sample, 57.5% said they held digital financial assets, defined as holdings across trading apps, online ISA platforms, crypto exchanges and app-based savings services.

Using a midpoint modelling approach commonly used in household wealth analysis, the research estimated the sample contained about £67.6 million in digital financial assets. It also produced a conservative lower-bound estimate of at least £42.4 million by assigning the minimum value within each asset band.

The report linked these access issues to the growing importance of digital estate planning. It also referenced consumer guidance that highlights "lost assets" each year in dormant or hard-to-locate financial accounts.

Wealth on apps

The data suggests digital platforms are no longer used only for small trading balances. Among digital investors, 47.8% reported holdings of £20,000 or more across their digital financial accounts.

In detail, 19.4% of digital investors held between £20,000 and £49,999, 10.0% held £50,000 to £99,999, 10.5% held £100,000 to £249,999, and 6.5% reported £250,000 or more.

Smaller balances were still common, but made up a minority. The research found 11.2% of digital investors held less than £1,000, 20.5% held £1,000 to £4,999, and 21.9% held £5,000 to £19,999.

Passwords and devices

The research also examined how investors store account credentials and found a fragmented mix of formal tools and informal habits.

Among investors, 22.7% said they used a password manager, while the same share relied on memorised credentials. Another 15.7% wrote passwords down and 14.9% used browser-saved credentials. Only 13.1% said they had shared access details with a trusted person, while 11.0% reported multiple or uncertain storage locations.

Two-factor authentication was another potential choke point for heirs. The study found 51.5% of investors relied on phone-based two-factor authentication, meaning access can depend on a single device or a specific authentication app.

Estate planning appears to lag behind the growth in online investing. The research found 85.6% of adults had not included digital access instructions in a will or estate plan.

Scale of exposure

The Investors Centre applied its access-risk share to the estimated value of digital assets in the sample. On that basis, it estimated that about £46-£47 million of the £67.6 million total could fall into the access-risk category, assuming risk is evenly distributed across value bands.

The report also linked the issue to a broader shift in household wealth. The UK is entering a period of intergenerational wealth transfer, with an estimated £5.5 trillion to £7 trillion expected to pass between generations in the coming decades. More than £100 billion already changes hands annually through inheritance, according to figures cited in the research.

Thomas Drury, Co-founder and Senior Trading Analyst at The Investors Centre, said the move towards app-based investing has changed the practical mechanics of inheritance.

"When digital investing moves onto apps and platforms, access to wealth increasingly depends on passwords and personal devices. As the UK enters the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in modern history, ensuring families can locate and access digital accounts will become increasingly important," said Dury.

The firm said the results from the 2,000-person sample suggest a much larger potential exposure across the UK's millions of digitally engaged investors, with digital assets facing access challenges potentially running into many billions of pounds.

It also set out steps retail investors can take to reduce access risk, including keeping an inventory of financial apps and platforms, using password managers with emergency access features, and noting where digital access instructions are stored as part of estate planning.