Adviser demand in Hong Kong


While Australian financial planners contemplate their futures, new research suggests Hong Kong’s high-net-worth investors (HNWs) will actually need their advisory expertise.
The research, conducted by Datamonitor, found that financial planning will be among the products and services the Hong Kong HNWs will most demand.
It found that 50 per cent of HNWs in Hong Kong would look for financial planning in the next two years.
“High demands for financial planning could be attributed to the large proportion of 31-50 years old HNWs in Hong Kong who have long-term investment objective,” according to Datamonitor senior analyst, Harry Senlitonga.
However he said the biggest shift in asset allocation would be seen in the withdrawal of funds from fixed income, with more HNWs leaving fixed investments and cash or near-cash products by shifting to equities and real estate investments due to an expected higher level of risk tolerance.
“Equities and real estate investments are expected to increase in popularity, along with the expectation for investors to return to consider riskier investment options by leaving conservative investment options such as fixed income and cash or near-cash products,” Senlitonga said.
He said that given the age profile of HNWs in Hong Kong wealth managers should focus more on providing a wider range of services to cater for different investment needs as in two years from now, more than half of HNWs will have a higher appetite for risk than they do today.
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