A  territory-wide survey conducted by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups found that as many as 80 per cent of respondents were in a habit of saving, with a relatively high portion revealed that their savings amounted to within $50,000.  Nevertheless, 60 per cent of respondents stated that they would make investments if they had any extra money.  70 per cent of respondents had invested, or agreed with the maxim, “Investments can make one wealthy”.  Their awareness, however, of risk tolerance from investing was not that strong. 

Engaging in time deposits was the most popular form of investment amongst the list of nine as suggested in the questionnaire.  Buying or selling stocks came second.  20 per cent of respondents said that they had been involved in the MTR Corporation stocks, with 10 per cent trading in the Tracker Fund.  Most respondents cited the media or experts as the main reference source.  The findings indicate that respondents appreciate the importance of saving, while also making investing a popular activity.  

Regarding considerations for investing, respondents were most concerned with their own “financial ability”, followed by the “risks” involved, with each securing an average rating of 4.3 and 3.2 points on a scale of 5.  “Familiarity with investment activities” ranked third (2.9 points), followed by the “return rate” (2.6 points) and the “time duration for the return” (1.8 points) as their other concerns.  What caught the attention, however, was that 10 per cent of respondents rated “risk” as the least important consideration among the five options.  Of the 375 respondents who had participated in investment activities, 40 per cent revealed that they had never tried to set an upper limit for their investments, while another 16 per cent claimed not to have made any references when investing.

        When asked the best way to acquire wealth, respondents ranked securing and seeking employment as first (31.5 per cent), followed by 25.8 per cent maintaining that investment would assist them and 16.6 per cent relying on saving their money.  When asked to state what they would do to improve their ability to earn money, 50 per cent of respondents said that they would try to achieve this goal by learning more skills.  All this indicates that young people would most likely adopt a down-to-earth approach to practically acquire wealth.   

        More than 60 per cent of respondents believed that there were differences between investing and gambling, while 35 per cent other otherwise.  One-fourth and two-thirds of respondents had bet on horses or bought Mark Six lottery cards.   

        The Federation said that Hong Kong was an international financial centre where a wide range of investment activities or products was available, and it expressed concern that young people had underestimated the importance of risk tolerance when investing.  In view of the fact that investing was a risky activity, with swindling rife, the Federation urged young people to maintain their vigilance and to discuss with families when investing.  More positively, the Federation encouraged young people to learn more about financial management through proper education.