Attitudes to investment

After the downturn, investor caution remains. Fifty one percent of respondents are avoiding high-risk investments more than before the downturn and only 7% are not. Fifty seven percent are more concerned about wealth preservation than before the downturn. This caution is evident across all regions.

Less than half say that they rely on others for financial advice and around three-quarters view themselves as both knowledgeable and interested in financial investment (see Chart 12). But these proportions vary across regions. Less than half of wealthy individuals in Hong Kong and Japan see themselves as knowledgeable about investing, although this could be attributed to modesty rather than fact.

This has not, however, stopped a search for further information. Some 30% say that they are reading financial newspapers/magazines/websites more than before the downturn, and 26% say that they are talking to friends and family more about investing. Twenty seven percent say that they are talking to their financial adviser more frequently than before the downturn.

This demonstration of self-reliance is backed up by the amount of time people spend actively managing their investments. Twenty five percent spend two to five hours a week actively investing their money, 16% spend 5-20 hours and 10% spend over 20 hours a week. The very wealthy spend more time managing their investments than other groups, with wealthy Europeans spending less time than the average. However, the notion of the wealthy as passive investors, who are keen to delegate the task to others, is clearly out of date. Only 5% of respondents are reviewing their portfolios less frequently than before the crisis.

Furthermore, the search for new opportunities continues. David Semaya, Head of UK and Ireland Private Bank at Barclays Wealth notes, "What's particularly interesting is that we are seeing emerging market investors and clients move from investments in developed economies and look to emerging markets for their investment opportunities: For example, the Chinese are looking to Brazil. Investors who are putting their cash back to work are looking for transparency with a mix of active and passive management."