Over half of affluent Gen Z investors prefer exposure abroad: HSBC

Medium-term financial confidence dropped to 48% from 73% a year earlier.

More than half of affluent Gen Z investors in Singapore prefer investment exposure outside the local market, amidst a sharp decline in expectations of meeting their medium-term financial goals, according to an HSBC survey.

Confidence fell to 48% from 73% a year earlier, the sharpest decline across the short-, medium- and long-term horizons.

The report showed this was below the 63% recorded among the market’s broader affluent-investor segment and the 76% global affluent average.

Meanwhile, 55% preferred overseas exposure, compared with 49% of affluent Gen Z investors globally.

Wealth creation remained a priority, with 58% focused on building wealth for financial security and 51% seeking additional income streams.

The findings echo a 2025 Prudential report, which found that 72% of Gen Z respondents had no retirement plan. Many said they were focused first on increasing their earning power and would begin saving for retirement once they had more disposable income.

Their medium-term objectives included protecting their wealth against inflation, cited by 20%, and supporting their families, at 18%. Fixed income accounted for 19% of the group’s average portfolios, followed by cash and cash equivalents at 18%, and equities at 16%.

The bank said respondents indicated that they were most likely to increase their ownership of insurance, stocks, and bonds over the 12 months following the survey.

The findings were based on an Ipsos survey commissioned by HSBC involving 9,993 affluent and high-net-worth investors across 10 markets from 6 January to 6 February 2026. 

Affluent respondents had at least $129,130 (US$100,000) in investable assets, whilst high-net-worth investors had at least $2.9m (US$2m). Gen Z respondents were aged 21 to 29.

'Planning gaps'

Across the city-state’s overall affluent-investor population, confidence increased across all three time horizons. Short-term confidence rose to 78% from 71%, whilst medium-term confidence grew to 63% from 61%, and long-term confidence edged up to 65% from 64%.

However, HSBC identified gaps between investors’ financial priorities and their use of planning services.

However, gaps between financial priorities and use of planning services indicate that turning intentions into actionable plans remains a key challenge, said Ashmita Acharya, head of international wealth and premier banking at HSBC Singapore.

The report showed that 51% of investors were preparing for retirement, yet only 20% currently use retirement-planning services. Moreover, just 9% use wealth-transfer-planning services.

“As portfolios become increasingly complex and internationally connected,” investors would require more integrated wealth planning across markets, asset classes and life stages, Acharya added.

A separate HSBC report said high-net-worth investors are using artificial intelligence (AI) to help them with their investment decisions, whilst asking human financial advisors to recheck its insights.

About 76% use the technology for finance and investment tasks, ahead of the 73% global average, whilst nearly seven in 10 use AI to research and analyse (69%), for strategy support (44%), and to stress-test their own ideas (34%).

$1 = US$0.77