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Lack of consumer finance advice in Hong Kong?

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  1. #1

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    Lack of consumer finance advice in Hong Kong?

    Is this a fair statement?

    I know we have Geoexpat and it's been wealth of information, but compared to North America and Europe (and even Singapore) there isn't really much out there in HK in terms of website, blogs, advice forums etc on consumer finance advice.

    Is that really the case, or is most of information that is out there in Chinese language?

    Is it because of HK's small population? But then I look at Singapore (which is smaller than Hong Kong) where there is lots of consumer finance advice (and products as well). Or again, is it a language thing?


  2. #2

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    I'll say most are targeted to Chinese speakers. You have two types of investors, the gamblers that don't really pay attention to the news. Then the high net worth individuals who just go through family office. I spoke to one wealth manager at a big bank, he told me most people are really boring in their investments, they all hold the same type of stocks (i.e. 5 HK, 700 HK, 900 HK etc....). Not the most sophisticated investors around.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Plutark:
    I'll say most are targeted to Chinese speakers. You have two types of investors, the gamblers that don't really pay attention to the news. Then the high net worth individuals who just go through family office. I spoke to one wealth manager at a big bank, he told me most people are really boring in their investments, they all hold the same type of stocks (i.e. 5 HK, 700 HK, 900 HK etc....). Not the most sophisticated investors around.
    What about for the regular salaried employee type person, or is it all long term insurance plans?
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    Quote Originally Posted by pin:
    What about for the regular salaried employee type person, or is it all long term insurance plans?
    most people I know use AAstocks as their source of information. I've worked in finance for a while so I don't really trust anyone giving advice, the people who make money don't talk about it. The HK stock market is heavy on financials, and also linked to China (for obvious reasons). I would say the best opportunities will come from South East Asia, China is moving its factories in these countries.
    My main source of information is coming from the people I follow on Linkedin, I try to find the best performing hedge funds and follow their PM or sales to see what they're talking about.

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    Most people I know, including locals I worked with, buy investment properties or stocks directly.

    Because taxes are fairly simple I don't think there's as much need for financial advice 401k vs IRA vs college and health savings plans, Roth IRAs, deferred benefits etc. that people face in the US.

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    Quote Originally Posted by cendrillon:
    Most people I know, including locals I worked with, buy investment properties or stocks directly.

    Because taxes are fairly simple I don't think there's as much need for financial advice 401k vs IRA vs college and health savings plans, Roth IRAs, deferred benefits etc. that people face in the US.
    But that's the thing, as we have seen here its more than just Roth IRA's, deferred benefits etc. Also as we have also seen, investing in individuals stocks as well probably isn't an efficient way of saving. I know it doesn't help that there really aren't any decent saving / investment products in Hong Kong.
    kittykaitak likes this.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pin:
    But that's the thing, as we have seen here its more than just Roth IRA's, deferred benefits etc. Also as we have also seen, investing in individuals stocks as well probably isn't an efficient way of saving. I know it doesn't help that there really aren't any decent saving / investment products in Hong Kong.
    What's the issue with just buying stocks?

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    Quote Originally Posted by cendrillon:
    What's the issue with just buying stocks?
    Come on, you of all people know it's more than just buying stocks.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pin:
    Come on, you of all people know it's more than just buying stocks.
    It is just buying stocks, and possibly bonds. For the average HK investor they can buy either the stocks underlying the Hang Seng Index, or 2800 if they want even less hassle. For international exposure buying VOO or similar is pretty straightforward even though you end up paying some tax. If the money is small relative to your lifetime earning potential then a broker is probably fine, if it's large then a local bank or two is probably fine.

    There's always the option to outsource this to an 'expert' which tends to have mixed results, but this problem exists everywhere not just in Hong Kong.

    I think JL Collins puts the simplicity of it very well.

    https://youtu.be/eikbQPldhPY

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    Quote Originally Posted by cendrillon:
    It is just buying stocks, and possibly bonds. For the average HK investor they can buy either the stocks underlying the Hang Seng Index, or 2800 if they want even less hassle. For international exposure buying VOO or similar is pretty straightforward even though you end up paying some tax. If the money is small relative to your lifetime earning potential then a broker is probably fine, if it's large then a local bank or two is probably fine.

    There's always the option to outsource this to an 'expert' which tends to have mixed results, but this problem exists everywhere not just in Hong Kong.

    I think JL Collins puts the simplicity of it very well.

    https://youtu.be/eikbQPldhPY
    If it's so simple why isn't everyone doing this? Why are banks and brokers making huge commissions from people selling mutual funds and insurance plans?

    You know all of this now, but how many hours of research did it take for you to get to this point?
    shri likes this.

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