HONG KONG scored well in a recent appraisal of the economic health of major economies published by the Royal Bank of Canada's Global Private Banking unit.
The Economic Fundamental Health Rating for Hong Kong was 9.4 out of a maximum score of 10, above Japan at 9.2 and Taiwan with nine but slightly below South Korea with 9.8 and Singapore with 9.9.
Norway was the overall top scorer with 10, while Canada scored 5.3, the US five and Britain 4.6. Venezuela had the lowest score at three.
According to the Global Private Bank report, the ranking was calculated on criteria including savings surplus, investment spending, the level of inflation and government deficit.
In the same report, the Royal Bank of Canada Global Investment Group (GIG) provided model balanced equity portfolio weightings for US dollar investors as at the end of last year. The heaviest weighting was towards Europe (27 per cent) followed by the US (24 per cent), Japan (23 per cent), Asia (12 per cent), Britain (9 per cent) Canada (3 per cent) and Australasia (2 per cent.) To obtain its weightings, the GIG analyses the long-term investment potential of the 50 biggest economies. Factors analysed include country political and economic risk, market liquidity and investment worthiness.
The GIG also determines overall asset mix strategy with input from its offices around the world. According to the group: 'The GIG investment approach emphasises a long-term orientation, a moderate growth bias, low risk, and a multi-disciplined selection process.' The Royal Bank of Canada financial group is one of the biggest financial services operations in North America, claiming more than 10 million personal and business clients.