Numerology: Wealthy Remain Wary

In Barclays Wealth Insights’ latest report, New Horizon, New Behaviour, released June 16th, the British wealth manager surveyed more than 2,100 mass affluent and high-net-worth investors around the world, and the major finding may be that the wealthy are even more risk-averse than you might have thought. Only 28% of respondents say they plan to increase the level of risk in their portfolio over the next 12 months, and that fear is keeping investors from getting back into the market, even though they recognize the investing opportunity that exists.

The lesson for advisors is that the wealthy value transparency and quality information more highly than ever: nearly half said they intend to increase the time they spend in selecting investments.