An exclusive look at Hong Kong's love affair with collectibles...

The Red Revenue overprint
sold for a World Record Price at InterAsia auctions

A new report has found that Hong Kong's investors are confident - especially about tangible assets:- Regular readers will be aware that Hong Kong has been moving forward in leaps and bounds as the centre for auctions in all manner of high-end collectibles: from stamps to wine, and from art to rare coins and banknotes.

Now a report from Friends Provident International, published on June 28, 2010 has given a corresponding measure of investment confidence.

Surveying investors in Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), they found that those in Hong Kong were particularly bullish about investment in the financial markets, and that they particularly favoured collectibles.

The report will form the first ever segment of an intended Friends Investor Attitudes Index, and referred to the second quarter of the financial year. It found that only 2% of those surveyed would not invest in the the current market conditions.

The investments they favoured most were not traditional shares, nor cash, but tangible investments.

Friends Provident International's Hong Kong spokesman, explains: "The results of our debut survey shows investors in Hong Kong have a bullish attitude towards investment in the second quarter of 2010. Gold, equities and collectables are the top three favourites.

"Interestingly, gold and collectables like antiques, art, jewellery, stamps, wine and vintage cars are real and hard assets. This reflects investors' concerns about inflation and their preference for non-structured assets."

It has become commonplace in recent times for financial advisors to suggest diversifying into tangible investments as a way of reducing risk, due to their lack of correlation with share prices, but in Hong Kong investors are leading the way in using collectibles to head their portfolios.