SINGAPORE: Singapore has ranked the second-favourite destination for the wealthy Chinese planning to increase investments in insurance, gold, and equities over the next 12 months, according to insurer YF Life and the Hurun Research Institute’s Mapping the Investment Landscape for China HNWI 2025 report.
The city-state has attracted 40% of offshore allocations from China’s high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).
China Daily, which cited the report published on Thursday (Dec 4), reported that Hong Kong remained the leading destination for the wealthy Chinese, drawing 52% of offshore allocations.
The report attributed this to both cities’ financial markets, product offerings, and tax advantages.
Notably, nearly half plan to increase their allocations to insurance, 42% to gold and 34% to equities over the next year, while pulling back on low-yield investments like bank savings and money-market funds.
Wealthy families reportedly spend an average of RMB590,000 (S$108,000) a year on insurance premiums, with 56% planning to focus their portfolios on it. Other priorities for the year ahead include spending on their children’s education, financial investments and health care, while cutting back on luxury goods, social gifting and leisure.
Currently, offshore assets account for about one-fifth of their total wealth, with around 45% invested in financial products outside mainland China over the past three years. Offshore insurance, bank savings and equities topped the list.
The report noted that, on average, wealthy Chinese hold five or six different financial products, forming a “pyramid” structure anchored by bank deposits, insurance and stocks.
It gathered responses from 500 HNWIs, of whom over half are business owners, with an average age of 44 and average family net assets of RMB 37 million. /TISG
