Convoy Financial Services (Convoy), the fast growing and first adviser firm to get a quote on the Hong Kong stock market, commissioned the online survey to understand better the habits and attitudes of their target younger generation client group.
The results, conducted by research group ESDlife, showed that 43% of those interviewed identified property ownership as their top priority, followed by setting up their own business (20%), and having children (13%).
There was also a clear gender bias on some issues, such as the amount of time it would take to achieve the goal of property ownership. Just over two thirds of the sample (64%) considered that it would take five years or more to own a property, of which single males accounted for 50% and females 70%.
This significant difference was explained in the survey results by the 26% of males who chose high risk as the acceptable level in financial management against 14% of single females.
In terms of investment habits, most single males (32%) relied on their own data as sufficient to be able to analyse and make investment decisions, followed by opinions provided by the media (31%).
By contrast most single females (25%) listened to opinions given by relatives, friends and colleagues, or sought professional opinions (19%), in order to make investments.
Some single females (8%) do not even participate in the decision making process but rely on their families or financial advisers to make investment decisions, and others (11%) never make investments.
Single males preferred to buy aggressive investments such as stocks, funds and property.
Quincy Wong, chairman of Convoy, said that rising property prices in Hong Kong combined with the Chinese traditional preference for buying property as a way of adding value to their assets “many Hong Kong people consider property as an investment tool for wealth growth.”
However he said property ownership cannot be the only life goal and Kong Kong people should consider clearly their actual needs in various stages of life and set the priorities according to considered levels of risk.
Rosetta Fong, chief executive of Convoy, added that not only did single males rely too much on self-analysed data, they also preferred to borrow more than females did. She argued that it is important for males not to borrow money to buy high risk investments such as shares.
As for females, she said they rely too much on the MPF fund which “does not help much in coping with inflation or property ownership”, and that they should consider a wider range of investments.
