KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19 — The gross financial assets of Malaysian households rose five per cent last year, bucking the global trend, according to the latest Allianz’s Global Wealth Report.
In contrast, gross financial assets of households globally and in Asia fell by 0.1 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively — the first drop for both since the financial crisis in 2008, the financial services group said in a statement today.
While the growth in Malaysia was the weakest since the crisis, it remained one of the strongest in the Asian region, said the 10th edition of the report, which covers more than 50 countries/regions.
“This was mainly due to the peculiar portfolio structure of Malaysian savers. The asset class ‘insurance and pensions’ comprise almost 40 per cent of all financial assets. No other country/region in Asia, except Singapore, boasts a higher share.
“Thus the performance of households’ financial assets is mainly driven by insurance and pensions, which served Malaysian households very well in 2018,” it said.
Allianz said a strong increase of 18.3 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in insurance and pensions was more than enough to compensate for the 9.8 per cent y-o-y fall in securities while bank deposits, finally, grew by 4.5 per cent.
In terms of net financial assets among Malaysians, the report said they increased 5.2 per cent y-o-y in 2018, more or less in line with the average of the last five years.
“With net financial assets per capita of 9,090 euros (RM42,162), Malaysia remained in 35th place in the ranking of the richest countries/regions, and well above the regional average of 6,910 euros (RM32,051),” it added.
The report also said liabilities in Malaysia grew 4.7 per cent y-o-y in 2018, recording the slowest increase since the turn of the century.
As a result, the debt ratio of households decreased for the third year in a row.
“But with 83.4 per cent, Malaysia’s debt ratio is still one of the highest in the region, well above the regional average of 52.4 per cent in Asia except Japan,” it said. — Bernama
