Hong Kong investors lose out on details
The number of retail investors in Hong Kong has grown nearly 30 per cent since 2003 to more than a third of the adult population but their investment knowledge is poor, says a study by the territory's regulatory watchdog.
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Stock trading is the most popular form of investment in Hong Kong, but more than half of investors thought they would receive dividends automatically when a company made profit, said the study by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC).
Just 52 per cent knew bond prices would go up when interest rates rose.
"This was our first attempt to measure retail investors' financial understanding. The results are thought-provoking," said Martin Wheatley, SFC chairman.
The SFC surveyed 5,210 adults to test their understanding of their basic rights and of investment products such as stocks, warrants and bonds.
Hong Kong's small investors, who often rely on radio, television and newspapers for advice, scored an average of 3.39 out of seven simple multiple choice questions.
Only 3.8 per cent of the investors could answer all questions correctly and 5.5 per cent got all answers wrong. Most investors gave three correct answers.
In the question about equity-linked deposits, two-third of investors did not know that either cash or stock could be possible returns when a deposit matured.
Even in the best understood question about voting rights, only just above half of investors knew they could vote in a shareholder meeting if the shares were kept by their brokerage or bank.
"Investment knowledge of retail investors needs a boost," said the SFC, which educates investors through newspaper articles, radio dramas, TV series, websites and forums.
Fewer than a fifth of retail investors in Hong Kong had sought professional investment advice in the past two years.
Managed funds ranked as the second most popular investment tool.
“香港股民缺乏投资知识”
香港证监会(Securities and Futures Commission)的一项调查表明，香港散户投资者占成年人口的比例，已从2003年的近30%升至逾三分之一，但“他们在金融投资方面的知识则有待增进”。
香港证监会称，虽然股票交易是当地最流行的投资方式，但一半以上的散户投资者认为，他们将在公司盈利的时候自动获得股息。
此外，只有52%的投资者知道，当利率上升时，债券价格将随之上涨。
香港证监会主席韦奕礼(Martin Wheatley)称：“这次调查是我们首度尝试就散户投资者对金融投资的认识程度作出评估。”
香港证监会调查了5210名成年人，以测试他们对自己的基本权益，以及对股票、权证和债券等投资产品的认识程度。这些往往依靠收音机、电视节目和报纸专栏获取投资建议的香港小投资者，在7个简单的多项选择题中，平均只答对了3.39道题。
