Premium Bond savers are being urged to reconsider where they park their hard-earned cash as new figures show 62% of holders have never won. Investment management firm, Vanguard, said on Tuesday (March 3) that while 23 million people in the UK hold a combined £135.7billion worth of Premium Bonds, about 14.3 million haven’t won.

Vanguard put this down to 15.1 million people holding £0 to £100, meaning the probability of winning is “extremely low”. It said even those with “significant amounts” have a “very slim” chance of “winning big”. The company said Premium Bonds can play a useful role as part of a wider savings strategy, but when money is being set aside for the long-term, it is important to consider whether it could work harder in stocks and shares.

James Norton, Head of Retirement and Investments, said: “The lesson here is the power of long-term investing and compound returns.

“There are ways you can set yourself up for the best chance of success, without relying on luck.”

Instead of paying interest, Premium Bonds offer savers an annual prize fund rate which funds a monthly draw for tax-free prizes.

Each £1 bond purchased is entered into a monthly draw, where prizes range from £25 to £1million.

Vanguard’s retirement chief hailed investing as an alternative which does not have to be complicated.

Mr Norton said you can build your own portfolio of investment funds, choose a ready-made portfolio or, if investing feels a little intimidating, hand over the keys for an expert to do it for you via a managed service.

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Vanguard’s analysis comes after National Savings & Investments (NS&I), which oversees Premium Bonds, said the prize fund rate will be cut from 3.60% to 3.30%.

NS&I, which is backed by the Treasury, said in February that the odds of winning will be lengthened from 22,000 to one to 23,000 to one.

People can hold up to £50,000 in Premium Bonds, including those aged under 16.

Nine out of 10 prizes are paid directly into the holder’s nominated bank account or automatically reinvested into Premium Bonds to go into the next draw.

At two, the estimated number of £1million prizes is set to remain unchanged in April. The estimated number of £100,000 prizes is expected to fall to 71 in the same month, down from 78 in February.

NS&I also said the number of £50,000 prizes will fall from 154 in February to an estimated 143 in April. There will be around 284 prizes worth £25,000 in April, down from 311 in February.

The estimated number of £10,000 prizes will fall from 777 to 712 over the same period while the number of £25 prizes will go up, with around 2,806,003 predicted for April. This compares with 2,643,007 in February.

Total prize numbers in April will be around 5,943,029, down from 6,183,066 in February.