Affluent S’poreans have cut down on consumption: survey
Affluent Singaporeans are the biggest savers in Asia despite being wealthier than they were six months ago, a survey has found.
They save 33 per cent of their monthly income, up 5 per cent from six months ago, while cutting back on consumption and daily expenses, an HSBC Affluent Asian Tracker survey found.
Compared to the first survey done in April, Singaporeans have cut their consumption by 4 per cent to 21 per cent and trimmed their daily expenses by 3 per cent to 45 per cent. Consumption refers to spending on dining, entertainment, clothing, travel and electronics.
Yet more than half of those surveyed reported a rise in net worth compared to only 23 per cent six months ago. Those who save the least, at 17 per cent, are the Indonesians and Australians.
The survey of more than 1,700 affluent individuals aged 30-55 took place in eight markets with 200 polled in Singapore. The survey gauges the views of people in the top 10 percentile of the population by income or liquid assets. Affluent in Singapore is defined as having a monthly income of at least $6,000 and $200,000 of liquid assets.
On preferred financial investments over the next six months, 68 per cent of Singaporeans surveyed voted for the stock market, followed by local or foreign currency deposits, unit trusts and life insurance.
Asked about the next big splurge, 56 per cent mentioned travel and 30 per cent said property. Buying a car was the least favoured, with only 10 per cent inclined to do so.
Indonesians were the biggest property fans at 56 per cent.
As for the sources of financial information, 47 per cent of Singaporeans said they relied on independent financial advisers, followed by the financial media (39 per cent), banks (32 per cent) and family/relatives (27 per cent).
Taiwanese relied most on the financial media (44 per cent) for financial information but only 8 per cent of Indonesians found it reliable. Indonesians prefer getting financial advice from family/relatives.
A third of affluent Singaporeans have family living abroad and close to half plan to live abroad in the next 10 years, with Australia/New Zealand as the most favoured destination.
About half of respondents in Malaysia and India feel the same way and 62 per cent of mainland Chinese – the highest proportion in the survey – plan to live abroad in the next 10 years.
Sebastian Arcuri, HSBC Singapore head of personal financial services, said the Asian diaspora will evolve into a new movement, led by the affluent who not only work and study abroad, but who now explore new wealth opportunities.
‘We are seeing this with our HSBC Premier clients as we help them to purchase a second home abroad, expand their businesses internationally or invest globally in multiple locations.’
Source : Business Times – 8 Dec 2009
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