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ASIANS are fairly resilient and optimistic amid the economic downturn, a survey by Canadian insurer Sun Life Financial has found.
The survey did not include Singapore but covered China, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong and the Philippines, spanning 19 cities and more than 7,000 respondents. It was carried out in the first quarter of this year, taking market turmoil into account.
The most optimistic respondents were in Hong Kong, India and China, with almost half, or more than half, saying that they were very positive or positive about their economic situation despite the downturn.
At the same time, Hong Kong respondents felt the pain of the downturn the most, with 47 per cent saying that their situation this year was worse or much worse than that last year. This reflects having an open economy - Singapore and Hong Kong were the first to report sharp economic contractions that were relatively worse than those of regional neighbours.
Still, most respondents across Asia believe that the economy will improve within two years, and many reckon that it will rebound within a year.
In terms of investment behaviour, most respondents - unsurprisingly - expressed a preference for liquidity and cash, while interest in stocks and mutual funds has dropped.
Interestingly, most made no change at all to their investment behaviour in the face of the downturn. The exception was Hong Kong, where 57 per cent said that they have withdrawn some or all money from investments.
Hong Kong investors also indicated that they can stomach a fairly large capital loss in exchange for higher earnings potential. In this group, 41 per cent can tolerate losses of 41-60 per cent and 37 per cent can bear losses of 61-100 per cent. In contrast, the majority of respondents in other markets indicated that their maximum loss tolerance was between zero and 20 per cent. In India, 95 per cent of respondents were in this category.
Asked which asset classes are expected to give the best returns in the long run, property and cash were the top two choices in Indonesia, China, the Philippines and India. In Hong Kong, stocks were the top choice, followed by property.
Pollution and inflation were the top worries. The recession was also a major concern. In terms of the top personal issues, retirement savings and job security were not ranked highly. Instead, the top issues were parents' health and children's education.
The majority of respondents across all the markets surveyed said that they were responsible for their parents' medical bills, as well as their own and their children's.
Nine out of 10 people in the Philippines have no health insurance. The numbers without health protection are also high in the other markets - 89 per cent in Indonesia, 70 per cent in India and 67 per cent in China.
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