KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia leads the findings of HSBC’s new Affluent Investor Snapshot 2024, a survey analysing investing habits among affluent investors across 11 markets.
It reveals that affluent investors in Malaysia, individuals with investable assets ranging from US$100,000 to US$2mil, are among the most heavily invested in financial products.
“The survey found that cash makes up only 27% of the portfolio of affluent investors in Malaysia. This is similar to Singapore, but lower compared with other markets surveyed including UK (37%), Hong Kong (33%) and Taiwan (33%).
“Furthermore, affluent investors in Malaysia are planning to put more of their cash to work, with the Snapshot showing that those who intend to rebalance their portfolios within the next year will invest more than half (52%) of their current cash holdings,” HSBC said in a statement.
The survey also revealed that the most popular savings and investment products among affluent investors in Malaysia are unit trusts (58%), stocks (54%), fixed deposits (52%), and bonds (31%).
On investment themes, the snapshot found that the top three among affluent investors in Malaysia are e-commerce and digital payments, renewable energy and clean technologies, and artificial intelligence and automation.
They are also keen on geographical diversification, with almost one in two
(47%) saying that they have plans to invest more in other markets, which is higher than the global average of 41%. The top investment destinations that they are looking at are Singapore, mainland China and the US.
The survey showed affluent investors in Malaysia monitor their investments nine times a month on average, more than the UK (6 times per month) and China (5 times per month), but less than the UAE (10 times per month).
HSBC Malaysia country head of wealth and personal banking Linda Yip said that based on the survey findings of Malaysia, affluent investors are strengthening their portfolios by adopting an asset diversification strategy and by putting more cash to work
“We view this as an encouraging trend as these investors look to build resilient financial portfolios and this is where HSBC can help, with our holistic wealth managements tools such as Wealth Dashboard/Wealth on Mobile, and our bespoke financial solutions catered to our HSBC Premier customers.
“Malaysia is a fast-growing wealth hub, and we are looking to build on this narrative further as our customers strengthen their financial portfolios and accumulate their wealth,” Yip said.