Josephine Lee Kwai-chong, head of retail banking at Citibank Hong Kong, presents the findings of Citibank's latest Hong Kong Affluent Study on Oct 11, 2023. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
One in 14 out of those aged between 21 and 79 in Hong Kong is a HKD multimillionaire with a net worth of HK$10 million ($1.28 million) or above, marking the third consecutive year of decline in number, Citibank’s latest Hong Kong Affluent Study finds.
According to the study, Hong Kong had 408,000 individuals whose net worth had reached HK$10 million as of June, slightly down from the 410,000 estimated at the end of last year.
Most multimillionaires surveyed have made plans for their next generation to prepare them for future financial challenges, with 77 percent having bought financial products for their children
The median net worth of those wealthy individuals slightly dropped to HK$16 million from last year’s HK$16.5 million, as the challenging macroeconomic environment wiped out some of their wealth. However, the latest figure still reflects a rise from HK$15.7 million in 2021 and HK$15.5 million in 2020.
“Unravelling their portfolio composition, we can see that the respondents become more into investment diversification and rebalance their assets from cash to various investments,” said Josephine Lee Kwai-chong, head of retail banking at Citibank Hong Kong.
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The portfolios of respondents showed a higher penetration rate across all asset classes from late 2022 to mid-2023, with funds and bonds being the most popular.
The bank’s study was conducted during two periods – October to December last year and April to June this year. A total of 1,700 Hong Kong residents aged 21 to 79 were interviewed via telephone during each period.
When it comes to the financial relationship between multimillionaires and the next generation, the survey shows that almost 90 percent of the multimillionaires are willing to discuss or do not mind discussing their monthly household expenses with their children. Nevertheless, only about 30 percent are comfortable with disclosing their asset value to their children.
Most multimillionaires surveyed have made plans for their next generation to prepare them for future financial challenges, with 77 percent having bought financial products for their children.
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Around 70 percent of the multimillionaires surveyed have plans for their children’s overseas education, estimating a spend of over HK$2 million for four years of university studies overseas.
The survey also found that almost 70 percent of wealthy people whose total assets have a value of HK$10 million are willing to finance their children’s home buying, with an average contribution of HK$2.4 million.
Meanwhile, 40 percent of the multimillionaires’ children look forward to financial support from their parents for raising their kids, but only 30 percent of the parents surveyed expressed a willingness to offer such assistance.
