More wealthy Chinese demands global asset allocation: report

BEIJING - More rich Chinese are expected to send their assets overseas for better investment returns as the economy continues to open up, according to a report.

It is estimated that the proportion of Chinese individual assets to be allocated overseas will increase from the current 4.8 percent to about 9.4 percent in the next 5 years, with the Assets under Management (AuM) of overseas investment increasing to 13 trillion yuan ($1.98 trillion), according to the 2016 China Wealth Report jointly released on Wednesday by China Industrial Bank (CIB) and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The proportion of personal wealth allocated to foreign assets is lower in China than in other countries. As the Chinese economy continues to open, however, the proportion will increase thanks to regulation liberalization and growing interest in overseas investment.

The report revealed that, despite slowing Chinese economic growth, the wealth of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) with investable asset over 6 million yuan is rising steadily.

China's high net worth families will reach 3.88 million by 2020 and their investable financial assets will then account for 51 percent of China's individual wealth. The country's continuous economic globalization will drive the HNWIs to shift from domestic wealth allocation to global wealth allocation.

The rise of China's HNWIs offers great opportunities for the development of private banking businesses, the report pointed out.

However, there is an undersupply of private banking services. China's private banking institutions manage less than 20 percent of the wealth of high net worth families, which implies huge opportunities for development, according to Chen Jinguang, CIB Vice President.

Despite market volatility, Chinese HNWIs remain optimistic. About 80 percent believe their household wealth will remain stable or rise during the economic transformation. So do 93 percent of the ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) with investable assets of over 100 million yuan.

This shows that Chinese HNWIs remain upbeat about the prospect of the wealth of both the country and individuals, said David He, co-author of the report, BCG partner and head of BCG China's Financial Services Institute.