1.2 million families hold half mainland's liquid assets

The mainland's richest 1.2 million families hold nearly half of the total investable assets in the country - an estimated 62 trillion yuan (HK$76 trillion) - a joint study by China Construction Bank and Boston Consulting Group has found.

The study said these high-net-worth families, which own no less than 6 million yuan of investable assets each, are fast at amassing wealth, but lack mature attitude and professional ways to allocate their money.

The value of their investable assets is expected to total 27 trillion yuan at the year-end, up 42 per cent from three years ago.

The study released by the nation's second largest lender and the global consulting firm yesterday found close to 60 per cent of the mainland's high-net-wealth individuals are private entrepreneurs, while 28 per cent are successful investors in property and financial markets.

Major cities and coastal provinces continue to have the most affluent residents. More than one third of the mainland's richest live in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong province.

Meanwhile, wealth is also spreading rapidly across western and southern regions like Shanxi, Gansu, Anhui, Guizhou and Hainan, which have seen the fastest growth in the number of high-wealth households.

Top concerns for such millionaires is 'how to preserve the value of their wealth', according to the survey of 2,100 top-rich families and a number of private banking managers.

They also care a lot about how to ensure their safety and that of their families and 'sustain [a] high-class life style'. Only 8 per cent of the respondents said they would use their wealth 'for the benefits of the society and others'.

When asked for their top financial goals, nearly half said the most important thing was 'planning for their children's future', while 44 per cent chose 'making further improvements in careers'.

Private banking is still a new service for many of them and customer loyalty in the market is low.

The survey said 'professionalism', 'confidentiality' and 'reliability' are the main factors when a customer chooses private banking services. They also hope the financial institutions will provide high-end medical and tourism services.