Brits living in New Zealand, for example, were “the most bearish” of the 716 British expat investors interviewed, “with 68% now less willing to take risks” than they were six months ago, the Lloyds TSB International researchers found.
By comparison, 17% of Brits living in Germany and 12% of those living in the US said they increased their risk appetite in the past half-year – although these low percentages, in themselves, were seen by the Lloyds TSB International researchers as an indication of how widespread risk aversion is among expatriates.
In total, only 6% of the British expats surveyed said they were more willing to take risks than they were six months ago, while 33% said they are less willing, and 56% “have not modified their attitude”.
The result was that 41% of those surveyed described their risk appetite as “low”, and 45% said their risk appetite was “medium”.
Only 14% of expat investors are willing to take the highest risks”, Lloyds TSB International said, in a summary of its findings.
Expats in France also risk averse
Britons living in France turned out to be the second most risk-averse group after those in New Zealand, while those living in Australia came in third, even though it was less affected by the global financial crisis than most others.
When asked why they were now less willing to take risks, the pessimistic expats said they were “now less confident” than they were six months ago about the markets, “with 54% cent identifying this as one of the main reasons for their diminished appetite”, the Lloyds TSB International researchers noted.
This was found to be particularly true of Brits living in Eurozone countries, “with 82% from France, three quarters from Germany and 58% from Spain” describing themselves to the Lloyds TSB International researchers as less confident than they were six months ago.
The research was carried out for Lloyds by Freshminds in September.
|
British expat investor sentiment
towards asset classes and markets
716 British expatriates, based in 14 countries, were asked
if they thought the outlook for these asset classes over the next six months was “positive, negative or neutral”
|
|||
|
Asset class
|
Positive (%)
|
Neutral (%)
|
Negative(%)
|
|
Property
|
41
|
37
|
23
|
|
Their local stock market
|
40
|
42
|
18
|
|
Emerging markets
|
37
|
49
|
14
|
|
Commodities
|
32
|
50
|
18
|
|
Government bonds
|
23
|
57
|
21
|
|
Corporate bonds
|
21
|
58
|
22
|
|
UK stock market
|
18
|
55
|
28
|
|
US
|
23
|
53
|
24
|
|
Eurozone
|
5
|
37
|
58
|
Source: Lloyds TSB Int’l research, conducted by Freshminds, Sept 2012
