China’s rich step up offshore bets as gold and insurance gain favour
China’s wealthy are shifting more of their portfolios offshore, as they seek to hedge slowing growth, policy risks and low yields at home
More than half of China’s high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) plan to increase the share of offshore investments in their portfolios over the next year as they seek diversification amid macroeconomic uncertainty, according to a joint report by insurer YF Life and wealth research firm Hurun.
The survey covered 500 affluent mainland Chinese, with an average age of 44 and average household net assets of 37 million yuan (US$5.23 million). Just over half of the respondents were business owners.
“China’s high-net-worth population is shifting from a phase of rapid scale expansion to one of quality-driven growth,” said Hu Run – better known as Rupert Hoogewerf – founder and chairman of Hurun Inc.
As economic headwinds persisted, the wealthy were becoming more cautious, using gold and insurance to preserve capital while at the same time expanding their global investments to spread risk, the study found.
In the coming year, 86 per cent of respondents said they would either hold, or intended to hold, overseas assets, while 56 per cent planned to allocate more funds offshore.
Both figures were well above the current proportion, with only 45 per cent presently having offshore exposure. Over the past three years, overseas assets had accounted for just 20 per cent of their portfolios on average, according to the study.