The Franklin Templeton poll of more than 13,000 people across Asia, Europe and North and South America, found 48% of Singaporean respondents held investments outside their home market, followed by 45% in Hong Kong.
In Asia, South Korea was the place with the lowest proportion of investors who invest overseas, with 23%.
The survey also found that two-thirds of Singaporean and Hong Kong respondents, 65% and 64% respectively, planned to allocate more to overseas investments this year.
Investors globally were also found to be increasing their appetite for non-domestic markets, with half of all respondents saying they planned to do so in 2011.
Broadly though, Asian investors were most likely to want to look overseas at 73% of respondents from that region likely to do so in the next decade, while Europeans were least likely, at 47%.
Cash and fixed deposits were also found to be the most popular asset classes globally, but the study found many investors did not plan to increase allocations to them in the next 12 months.
Greg Johnson, chief executive of Franklin Templeton Investments, said: “With an improved global economic outlook, increasing interconnectivity of world markets and the growth of emerging and frontier markets, investors are increasingly looking worldwide for investment opportunities.”
