KUALA LUMPUR, Mar 12 — Children of wealthy Malaysians took up 60 per cent of spots in foreign universities that went to families of ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) in Asia, said a study on the demographic today.

According to The Wealth Report 2014 released by property consultant Knight Frank, the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia are the top three destinations for Asian UHNWIs — the ultra-rich — to send their children for tertiary education.

“Education is the key fundamental in making more money. Definitely people who are rich, they want their children to get world-class education,” said Sarkunan Subramaniam, the managing director of Knight Frank Malaysia here.

Despite that, Subramaniam refrained from explaining why the ultra-rich shunned local education.

In a statement released earlier, Subramaniam said Asian’s super-rich surpassed the global average in sending their children abroad for studies, with 46 per cent choosing to do so against the 34 per cent average.

According to Goh Cheng Ean, who heads High Networth Banking in United Overseas Bank Bhd, the ultra-rich have invested in properties overseas not just for themselves, but also for their children who are studying overseas.

“Besides attractive rental yields, these properties serve many purposes — as a base for their business trips, as a home for their children while studying overseas and even a holiday home,” said Goh in the statement.

The findings were included in the Attitude Survey in the report, which polled 600 private bankers and wealth advisors to provide an insight into their clients’ attitude.

An UHNWI is defined as those with US$30 million (RM99 million) or more in net assets, including their main residence.

The results of the survey represented the views of over 23,000 UHNWIs who are worth US$69 million on average, and US$1.5 trillion in total.

While the number of public universities in Malaysia have risen over the past decade, places for sought-after courses remain limited, in addition to allegedly poor-quality state-run universities and shrinking academic freedoms.

Many in Malaysia’s sizable Chinese and Indian minority communities also complain they are left out by affirmative-action policies that favour the country’s majority ethnic Malay group in university placements.