KUALA LUMPUR – Most affluent Malaysians – 83% – have set new life goals post-pandemic to become more future-focused, according to Standard Chartered’s (StanChart) latest survey on affluent consumers.
In its Wealth Expectancy Report 2021, the bank said nearly half (48%) of the Malaysians surveyed aim to have a more comfortable retirement, while 43% aim to improve their health.
“To meet their new goals, the affluent need new strategies to grow their wealth, which often involves more proactive investment rather than just saving cash.
“However, their current ‘confidence gap’ has made many increasingly averse to risk, potentially stopping them from putting their money to work through investing or making use of digital tools that simplify wealth management,” it said in a statement today.
The online survey was conducted in 12 markets in June and July 2021.
In Malaysia, there were 1,037 emerging affluent, affluent, and high-net-worth respondents.
StanChart said for the affluent across the wealth spectrum in Malaysia, the three most common factors impacting their confidence were volatility in financial markets (36%), fear of poor returns on investments (32%), and hesitancy or uncertainty around committing to investment decisions (27%).
The report also indicated that a late start to retirement planning, combined with the pandemic-induced “confidence gap”, leaves a significant proportion of affluent consumers at risk of a shortfall for their retirement.
“In Malaysia, 28% of people do not currently save or invest for retirement. For those that do, investment income (55%) and cash savings/deposits (45%) are the most common expected sources of income in retirement.
“At the same time, 50% plan to retire before the age of 65; and in the last 18 months, 19% have set the new financial goal to retire earlier,” it said, adding that this showed a disconnect between current actions and future expectations. – Bernama, November 24, 2021
