The government wants investors to buy British

For British investors, patriotism is costly. Sticking money in domestically listed equities over the past decade has meant total shareholder returns two-thirds lower than investing in a global index that strips out Britain. It should be no great surprise, then, that British investors exhibit less “home bias”, an over-allocation to domestic equities, than most rich-world peers (see chart). A decent financial adviser would call this shrewd. Geographic diversification is core to good investing. Financial theory even suggests that savers should avoid their home market to offset the exposure of living and working there.