TISA research reveals stark gender gap in financial guidance trust and AI confidence

December 22, 2025

New research from The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA) has revealed a clear gender divide in how UK adults approach money decisions, with men being significantly more trusting than women of regulated financial guidance, as well as being more confident using AI tools for their personal finances.

While over half of men (56%) trust that guidance aimed at encouraging savers to become investors, which is given by a regulated financial services provider, is given in their best interests, just 43% of women say the same. Furthermore, women (27%) are also much less likely than men (43%) to feel confident using AI search engines, such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Copilot, to help with their personal finances.

The polling reveals how the approach to financial decisions varies across different groups, making the Government’s ambition of achieving a more balanced retail culture a challenge which requires nuance and a range of measures.

Trust in financial guidance for investing cash savings:

Less than half (49%) of UK adults said they would trust that support or guidance from a regulated financial services provider would be in their best interests.
Across all age groups, more people expressed ambivalence (28%) and uncertainty (10%) towards financial guidance given by their financial provider than outright mistrust (13%).
Londoners were the most trusting (60%), while those in the North East were least trusting (38%).
Trust was below 50% among both the youngest adults (18–24) and everyone aged 45 and over, while it peaked at 67% for 25–34-year-olds and 55% for those aged 35–44.

Confidence in using AI for personal finance:

Over one-third (34%) of UK adults stated they were confident in using AI for help with their personal finances.
Londoners expressed the highest confidence (54%), with Northern Ireland and the South West the lowest (24%)
25–34-year-olds reported the highest confidence (57%) and over 65s the lowest (10%).

Carol Knight, CEO of TISA, said:

“Clearly, there is a growing split in how people deal with their money. Many – especially women – may be unsure where to turn for support and mistrustful of the industry, while others, more often men, are already leaning on AI tools that freely admit they can be wrong. That isn’t something a single new rule or product can fix.

Targeted Support will be crucial to reaching disengaged consumers who no longer trust the system, as well as building the retail investing culture the Government is quite rightly aiming to foster. TISA strongly supports this ambition to make growth more inclusive and improve consumers’ financial wellbeing.

However, Targeted Support should not be treated like a silver bullet. It needs to sit alongside simpler, decision-useful disclosures, clearer risk warnings, and more inclusive marketing that normalises money conversations so people can get the help they need from credible, stable and trustworthy providers.”

ENDS.

Notes to Editors

This polling was carried out by Savanta, a market research consultancy based in London, on behalf of The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA).
Savanta surveyed 2037 UK adults online between August 15th and August 18th 2025. Participants were asked two questions: Question 1: “Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: ‘If I were to receive support or guidance from a regulated financial services provider on investing my cash savings, I would trust that the guidance is given in my best interests. ”Question 2: “On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is ‘not confident at all’ and 10 is ‘very confident’, how confident do you feel using an AI search engine, such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Copilot, for help with your personal finances?”. Scores between 1–4 were considered ‘not confident’, while scores between 7–10 were considered ‘confident’. Results were weighted to be representative of all UK adults
The raw data is available upon request and can be segmented by gender, age group, region, and social grade.
TISA is a not-for-profit membership organisation committed to improving the financial wellbeing of all UK consumers by working collectively with the financial services industry to deliver solutions and champion innovation, for the benefit of people, our industry, and the nation.
TISA has approximately 270 member firms involved in the supply and distribution of savings and investment products and associated services. Members include the UK’s major investment managers, retail banks, online platforms, insurance companies, pension providers, distributors, building societies, wealth managers, third party administrators, FinTechs, financial consultants, financial advisers, industry infrastructure providers and stockbrokers.