This was reflected in a survey carried out by Nielsen in December last year, its second one, that aims to track financial needs of Mainland travelers and usage of investment fund and other investment products.
The findings of the report was detailed by the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association.
Neilsen terms “Mainland travelers” as those Mainland Chinese residents who currently live in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, have stayed at least one night in Hong Kong in the past 12 months, and own at least one financial product in mainland China.
The survey revealed that 16% of mainland travellers from these four cities currently invest in Hong Kong funds and more than half of the respondents showed strong intention in visiting Hong Kong only for investment purpose.
Over the next 12 months, the number of mainland travellers who wish to invest in Hong Kong financial products is seen doubling to 2 million from 1 million currently.
Out of the Mainland travelers who invested in funds in Hong Kong, about 95% said they would consider making further investments in funds in the next 12 months. Amongst non-fund investors, 55% also said that they have similar plans.
In terms of distribution channels, 39% of the Mainland fund investors indicated they had bought funds through banks, 25% via insurance companies. Independent financial advisers, played an even more important role, with 46% citing that they had bought funds through these channels.
Funds emerged as the second most common type of financial products with 16% of the respondents votes, just after HK$ deposits (with 18%).
Bruno Lee, chairman of HKIFA Unit Trust Subcommittee said: “We believe that as more initiatives are being undertaken by the relevant authorities; and that closer cross-border ties are being forged, this trend will only continue to grow.”
The Hong Kong and Chinese authorities are working on a pilot programme that will make investors to invest in each others' stock markets. On a similar basis, the authorities are also working “mutual recognition” of funds between mainland China and Hong Kong,
http://international-adviser.com/news/asia/hk-china-link-stock-market
http://international-adviser.com/news/asia/hk-details-measures-for-fund-industry-in-budget
“With the increasing affluence of the Mainland population, there would be increasing needs to look for alternative channels of investment to effectively deploy their financial assets. Hong Kong is well positioned to cater for these burgeoning needs; and we believe that investment funds will assume a pivotal role.”
Other survey highlights:
–Out of all the respondents, 62% would invest in funds in the next 12 months, translating to around 1.5m potential fund investors.
–Fund products enjoyed an increase in penetration, from 13% in 2012 to 16% in 2013.
–About 2.4 million Mainland travelers visited Hong Kong in 2013, up by 21% over 2012.
–16% of them came to Hong Kong solely for investment purposes, slightly up from the 14% registered in 2012.
–VIPs (classified as those with liquid assets worth HK$5m) attached great importance to investment, with 30% citing the reason for visit as for investment purposes. The Affluent (HK$1 million – 4,999,999) followed at 27%.
–Nearly 75% of the fund investors had made at least one transaction in 2013, up from 54% in 2012.
–The reason for appeal to financial products was due to wide array of product choices (32%), more reliable (28%), good customer service (26%), better returns (25%) and convenience/flexibility (24%).
–64% of the Mainland travelers believed was important that product providers offered online services.
