Two-thirds of stock market investors were holding their breath in the early hours of September 19, hoping for a No verdict in the independence referendum - if you believe a poll (of just 102 customers) conducted by online broker TD Direct Investing across the UK published on the eve of the vote.

It claimed to have uncovered "a huge amount of concern among investors about what the true impact of an independent Scotland will be". More than 60% said they would "stop investing in Scottish brands", and the same proportion said it would even undermine their confidence in UK brands.

Big investment banks also voiced their feelings, with Deutsche Bank claiming five days before the vote that a Yes outcome would trigger a "Great Depression" in Scotland.

UBS was lower profile, instead pumping out a stream of "scenario" information to its clients. "It was all non-inflammatory," said UBS's Scottish wealth management chief Colin Aitken last week. "The 'what-ifs' have to be discussed and if we helped the debate at all I am pretty proud of that."

He said some of UBS's clients, who are all in the £2 million-plus wealth bracket, hadn't waited for the outcome. "We saw quite significant movements of capital into institutions which were London-based … tens of millions of pounds.

"One lady in Aberdeen wanted to open an account in Switzerland. She said her family had lost everything when monetary union in Slovakia and the Czech Republic fell to pieces in weeks and she was not prepared to let it happen to her."

But the No campaign did not have a monopoly on support from the wealthy - Aitken said that while some clients emailed expressing relief, "we know we had clients who weren't that happy with the outcome".

Big Scottish shares were said to have enjoyed a "referendum bounce" after the result. But within a few days, that appeared to have evaporated. Now, investors scared by Yes seem to be fretting about the consequences of No.

Leading fund manager Neil Woodford's view is that the uncertainty created by the constitutional debate will put a damper on consumer sentiment, business confidence and investment. He said: "I believe the UK economy is already losing momentum … and these latest political developments can only accelerate and prolong this slowdown."

Fund group Fidelity said: "With the referendum now consigned to the history books, the market will shift its focus from Scottish politics to UK politics."

And Paras Anand, head of European Equities at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, said: "The mood surrounding the outcome of the vote may be short-lived as the focus turns quickly to the potential details and consequences of devo max."

According to Anand, next year's General Election was always going to prolong the UK's aura of uncertainty, and depress the value of the pound against the dollar - but he believes this is no bad thing.

He said: "This we believe would be a welcome development for the UK corporate sector overall, given the large proportion of revenues and profits that are earned overseas and hence supportive for the markets overall."

Bill O'Neill, head of UBS's investment office in London and probably the most prolific City commentator on the independence referendum, was in Scotland last week.

He said: "The Scottish public were quite concerned about the tax issues that might emerge from independence, also issues of currency."

But 70% of Scots are said to approve of devo max as a preferred form of government, and consequently the markets still believe UK shares carry a "risk premium", O'Neill said. "It has become much less of a Scottish-specific issue and more of a UK issue. It will remain there for a while, certainly until after the election."

O'Neill added that small investors should be going for "credit risk rather than interest rate risk" when choosing bonds, and for funds "that involve more stock-picking and are less sensitive to the equity market". He believes the time is ripe for "value" stocks, and for looking at sectors such as energy and banks.

Meanwhile, after a week which saw Labour unveil election pledges, and the UK budget deficit widen, investors are primarily concerned about whether the next government can balance the books by 2017 as promised, O'Neill said, and also when interest rates will rise - he believes by February.

Fidelity's market guru Tom Stevenson said: "It is worth remembering that markets are global, especially internationally focused markets like London. They have shaken off massive geopolitical uncertainty in Ukraine and the Middle East, they have taken in their stride an imminent reversal in the interest rate cycle and the threat of deflation in Europe. I suspect they will also shrug off a close-run independence vote."