North East investors put their money where their mouths are

Invest in what you know? Maybe that’s why one of the top buys in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyr-ndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch was Google-owner Alphabet.

Glaswegians were thirsty for £BAG. Our data showed that investors in Glasgow bought 50% more shares of Irn Bru maker AG Barr than Edinburgh.

Coca-Cola HBC employs 750 people across the island of Ireland, mainly in Lisburn, NI. Mentos strictly prohibited. Maybe that’s why the bottler was among Northern Ireland’s top 10 favourite stocks in 2022.

South East London bought the most Wetherspoons out of all the London boroughs (practically double the value of East Londoners, in a very far off second place)!

Dispelling the myth that there are more Man Utd fans in London than Manchester, our data showed that Man Utd was a 4x more popular buy among Mancunians than Londoners.

Newcastle invested more in Tyneside-HQ’d Greggs than the whole of Scotland combined. The stock also cracked the top 50 buys in the region but didn’t even make the top 300 in London.

Living up to its hip and green reputation, Brighton was the only region to feature Oatly among its top 10 buys in 2022.

Bristolians traded in the city's iconic car heritage for a much newer model. British EV maker Arrival was the region's second most popular buy.

Out with the new, in with the old

So what's next for 2023?

1. The UK/US rotation
A nod from the Fed that rate rises will stall or even potentially reverse would likely trigger a flight back to US tech. In the meantime, it’s the stocks with high quality, strong balance sheets, stable margins and low debt that will attract capital, as well as ones who stand to benefit from higher inflation. That could mean investors stick with UK names in large dominant consumer sectors, as well as banks with widening net interest margins and miners benefiting from high commodity prices.

2. True pricing power, who’s got it?
Cash is important and the firms actually generating it become a lot more valuable in the short term. Waxing lyrical about future world domination is all well and good but when recession hits, investors prefer cold hard cash to those hopes and dreams. That’s why large firms with little to no debt, sprawling revenue streams and dominant market positions can stand to benefit. As the market shifts from a ‘growth at all costs’ attitude to one of preservation and reasonable growth, the ones who can raise prices and keep customers on board stand to benefit.

3. Back to bonds?
After being out of favour since the financial crisis, 2023 could mark the return of the gilt. For plenty of investors, this could be their first time dabbling in bonds too. Gilt ETFs offer investors an easy way to dip in and out of government bonds instead of holding them to maturity. Buying and selling a bond ETF is usually a lot faster and easier than trading those underlying bonds themselves. Secondly, a well-diversified bond ETFs should hold a wide range of bonds to mitigate itself from being too heavily influenced by changes in interest rates.

4. 2023: the year ISAs got real
If you haven’t thought about investing tax efficiently, it might be wise to at least work out if a stocks and shares ISA could help now more than ever. The amount we can earn in dividend income and outright investment growth (capital gains) is falling from April 2023. With both allowances being chopped in half, and then again in 2024, it means a lot of investors will find themselves paying tax on their investments for the first time.

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When you invest, your capital is at risk. Always do your own research. This should not be read as personal investment advice and individual investors should make their own decisions or seek independent advice. ISA eligibility and tax rules apply. Tax relief depends on your personal circumstances and current rules can change. Past performance isn't a reliable indicator of future returns.