Tax-efficient savings alternatives are the first priority for European affluent investors seeking advice, quoted by nearly one in five in a new survey.

Other important areas where investors are seeking advice, according to the survey made by UK-based Schroders, are pensions (17 per cent); the amount of money they should be investing (16 per cent); appraisement of asset allocation (15 per cent); and rebalance long and short-term goals (14 per cent).

The UK-based investment firm polled nearly 1,400 affluent investors in 12 countries.

Schroders also said that the debt crisis remains the top concern for 2012 amongst European investors, cited by 43 per cent, down from 49 per cent in 2011. Thirty per cent are worried about higher taxes, up from 27 per cent last year, while those worried about general market uncertainty have dropped from 30 to 28 per cent. Just over a quarter are concerned about higher inflation compared with a third in 2011.

Priorities differed across the continent; the number of those worried about higher taxes in Italy has risen from 49 to 63 per cent - twice the figure for the rest of Europe.

Twice as many UK investors are concerned about the low levels of interest rates than the rest of Europe, with half of investors in the UK expressing such anxiety compared with a quarter in the rest of Europe.

Besides Italy and the UK, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Portugal, and Israel were included in the survey. Schroders defined affluent sample as people with invested assets, excluding primary residence, of €60,000 ($75,000).