Cavan tops Irish Life investment survey

THERE’S a story that tells jokingly that copper wire was invented as the result of two Cavan men fighting over a penny.

And if the results from the latest Irish Life investment survey are anything to go by then these pennies add up nicely with Cavan people soaring to the top when it comes to investing their money.

Irish Life customers in Cavan invested an average of €72,000 last year — almost 60% above the national average.

The drive for investment did not rub off on its neighbours in Monaghan as it slumped to the bottom of the list having the smallest lump sums invested at €27,000, or 40% lower than the national average.

Nationally men were more conscious than women when it came to investments — with male clients averaging almost €52,000 while the average investment by female clients was just over €33,000 — 58% less.

The average lump sum invested last year in Ireland hit €45,000 and almost half of investors opted for capital protected products.

Over €1.2 billion was invested by retail investors in non-pension related lump sums with Irish Life during this period, according to the survey of lump sum investments made by more than 25,000 customers of Irish Life last year.

Karl Symes of Irish Life said: “The perception wealth and disposable investment income is concentrated in the major urban centres is not supported by these figures.”

After Cavan, the biggest investments came from Irish Life customers in Meath with an average investment of just over €70,000.

Counties where the average investment was higher than the national average were Galway (€54,000) and Kildare (€50,000).

Counties where the average investment was significantly lower than the national average included Mayo (€28,429), Waterford (€29,703) and Kerry (€30,359).

Dublin accounted for over a quarter of the investments by number, with the average investment just under €48,000. The average investment in Cork was €40,363.