Just under half of the respondents of the survey said they are expecting a financial crisis to hit this year – and claimed it would be more catastrophic than the 2008 financial crash. The study, from Spearvest and Censuswide, revealed 44 percent of 1,000 members of the public surveyed were preparing themselves for financial turmoil in 2019. A further 41 percent said they were anticipating a crash in the housing market. Wael Al-Nahedh, CEO of Spearvest, said: “With widespread concern around the performance of the housing market and the wider economy, 2019 already looks set to be a challenging year for investors.
“It’s also clear that the financial services industry needs to do much more to win back trust of the public, supporting good causes and demonstrating a genuine commitment to charitable giving.”
The gloomy survey findings comes more than a decade after the Lehman Brothers investment bank collapsed in September 2008, sparking financial chaos as Wall Street was plunged into turmoil.
When asked if they had forgiven the banks after the financial crash, only 14 percent of the respondents confirmed they have.
More than half, or 55 percent, said they do not believe the banks have their best interests at heart.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released several downcast forecasts at the end of last year, detailing concerns over how the economy is not prepared for the event of collapsing.
As well as this, the international group was predicting 3.7 percent global growth in both 2018 and 2019, down from its July forecast of 3.9 percent growth for both years.
Back in October 2018, the IMF warned of “large challenges” ahead “to prevent a second Great Depression” as the international organisation claimed the world markets are at risk of another meltdown.
Then in December 2018, David Lipton, the group’s first deputy managing director, warned of “storm clouds building” as he spoke of fears that “crisis prevention is incomplete”.
Speaking in London, Mr Lipton said: “Over the past two years, the IMF has called on governments to put in place policies aimed at just that goal — as we have put it, ‘fix the roof while the sun shines’.
“But like many of you, I see storm clouds building, and fear the work on crisis prevention is incomplete.”
The global economy has been rattled by geopolitical tensions and a trade war between China and the United States, the two most powerful nations.
Political upheaval, including uncertainty from Brexit, have also been listed in several economic reports as issues to be wary of for the economy.