Asian households increase retail investing, surpassing UK

Research from Aberdeen Investments indicates that Asian households are rapidly increasing their participation in retail investing, in some cases overtaking the United Kingdom. According to the report ‘Beyond Tell Sid: How Asia built a new generation of investors’, Japanese households now hold 9% of their wealth in equities and mutual funds outside of pensions, surpassing the UK’s 8%.

Other regional findings show Singaporean households have an 11% exposure to these assets, while South Korea remains level with the UK at 8%. Although India has a dynamic retail market, equities and mutual funds currently account for only 5% of its household wealth.

The report notes that while equity exposure is growing in Asia, many nations still maintain high cash and property holdings. For instance, South Korean households hold 65% of their wealth in property, compared to 50% in the UK. China and India show similar trends with property holdings at 60% and 51% respectively.