Affluent and high net worth investors in Malaysia are building wealth buffers against inflation, with 43% citing this as one of their top financial goals, according to a HSBC survey.
According to HSBC’s Affluent Investor Snapshot 2026 survey, Malaysian investors are deploying cash more aggressively than their global peers.
“Over the 12 months following the survey, 16% of affluent and high net worth investors in Malaysia said they intended to reduce their cash allocation, compared with the global average of 12%.
“This is also higher than in other markets such as Taiwan (9%) and Singapore (13%),” HSBC Malaysia said in a statement today.
The survey, conducted by Ipsos Asia Limited on behalf of HSBC, polled 9,993 investors aged 21 to 69, including affluent investors (with minimum investable assets of US$100,000) and high net worth investors (with minimum investable assets of US$2 million).
The survey was conducted from Jan 6 to Feb 6 across 10 markets: China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US.
It said Malaysian investors are focused on three top financial goals: building additional wealth to protect against inflation (43%), preserving and protecting their wealth (42%), and preparing for retirement (42%).
The survey showed that the top three financial products owned by affluent and high net worth investors in Malaysia are insurance (48%), stocks (44%) and gold (43%).
