By Suresh Menon

Affluent Singaporean investors remain bullish on Asia, but see more potential in regions like the Middle East and Africa (MEA), as well as North and Latin America, in the longer term, according to a survey by Standard Chartered Bank and Scorpio Partnership.

The FuturePriority Report 2012 polled over 2,700 affluent individuals across nine markets in Asia, including 300 from Singapore, with an average annual income of US$126,000 (S$159,000).

About a third of Asian respondents view Europe and North America as offering good wealth-creation prospects in the next 12 months.

Their numbers rise substantially over a five-year horizon, particularly for the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. The investors appear to take a balanced view of wealth creation.

The majority of Singa- pore's affluent (70 per cent) are confident about growing their wealth in the next 12 months, though the confi- dence level is lower than in the year before (76 per cent).

The affluent in Asia pre- fer tangible investment op- tions, stating gold (44 per cent), high-interest savings (43 per cent), and real estate (34 per cent) as their top choices in the next 12 months.

Singaporeans are less bullish on gold than their Asian counterparts, opting for high-interest savings and shares. Also, they tend to be less aggressive in their money goals than some of their Asian counterparts, according to the findings.

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