A bank survey revealed that affluent investors which defines as individuals with investable assets ranging from USD100,000 to USD2 million in Malaysia are one of the most invested in financial products.
The HSBC Affluent Investor Snapshot 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.
In terms of savings and investment products, the survey shows that unit trusts (58%), stocks (54%) fixed deposits (52%) and bonds (31%) were the most popular instruments held by affluent investors in Malaysia. For future savings and investment purposes, these investors say that they are considering products such as Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), commodities, annuities, and REITs.
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. Affluent investors in Malaysia are also advocates of financial portfolio diversification, as they hold an average of 5 products and asset classes in their portfolio, which is higher than the global average of 4 products and asset classes.
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 also found a high level of engagement from affluent investors in Malaysia when it comes to their investments—as they monitor their investments at an average of 9 times per month, higher than UK (6 times per month) and mainland China (5 times per month), but lower than the UAE ( 10 times per month). 7 out of 10 of affluent investors in Malaysia cite banks, insurance companies and financial advisors as their top source of wealth management guidance.
Commenting on the survey findings, Linda Yip, Country Head of Wealth and Personal Banking, HSBC Malaysia said: “HSBC’s Affluent Investor Snapshot provides a temperature check of the investment behaviours and trends of affluent individuals across 11 markets. 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.”
The Affluent Investor Snapshot 2024 is a Global Quality of Life special report by HSBC. Its insights are based on data gathered from 11,230 individual investors across 11 markets, namely Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, mainland China,
Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, UAE, UK and the US.
