2019-10-01 Singapore Tatler

THE TATLER 300 / Investing Habits

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

Where to Invest

Largeallocationsto alternativeassetsandcash

are hallmarks of the investmentportfolios of the ultra-wealthy

BY NICK FERGUSON

Aftera goodyearforinvestmentsin2017,lastyearwas
ugly.And,whiletheportfoliosoftheultra-richdonot
changesignificantlyfromyeartoyear,whatwehaveseen
in 2018 is a growingbiastowardscashanda continuation
ofthelong-runningtrendawayfrombondsduetolow
interestrates.
It is tooearlytosaywhatkindsofreturnsultra-highnet
worthindividuals(UHNWIs)generatedoverallin2018,but
somepublicinvestmentfundswithsimilarallocationshave
earnedlowsingle-digitreturns.TheUS$350bCalifornia
PublicEmployees’RetirementSystem,forexample,
generated3.3percentonitsinvestments,accordingto
initialestimates—farbelowits10-yearaveragereturnof
around8 percent.
Ofcourse,investmentdecisionsarenottypicallybased
onshort-termoutlooksandcanbeheavily infl uenced by
the particular goals of the investor.

“Thefactorsarewidespreadandquiteindividual,”

saysAdrianZuercher,headofassetallocationfor

Asia-Pacific atUBSGlobalWealthManagementChief

InvestmentOffice.“Themostcommonarelegacy

factors—leavinga financiallegacyforthecoming

generations—andthoserequirea long-termasset

allocation.Otherimportantfactorsaresustainability

goals.OurUHNWIsareoftenheavilyengagedin

philanthropyandcharity.Aligningtheircorevalueswith

theirinvestmentstrategyis a majorfactorformanyof

ourUHNWIs.”

Thepopulationofultra-wealthypeople—thosewith

US$30millionormore,bysomedefinitions—isgrowing

quickly,withAsiageneratingnewwealthmorethan

anyotherregion.AccordingtoWealth-X,whichtracks

dataontheultra-rich,thecollectivenetworthofAsia’s

UHNWIs grew by more than a quarter in 2017, and the

14 singaporetatler. the tatler 300 list 2019