The WMC scheme will have an aggregate quota of RMB300 billion ($45 billion) for fund movement in both directions, allowing each investor to invest up to RMB1 million each.

A study by HSBC of 1,606 investors in the Greater Bay Area found that 80 per cent of them plan to invest in Hong Kong via the upcoming Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect system, which has been set up to forge financial links within the region.

The WMC, covering the Greater Bay Area, is slated to go ahead after an announcement last year by the People’s Bank of China, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Monetary Authority of Macao. Adding to links between Hong Kong’s and the mainland’s stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, the regime is designed to intensify investment and capital flows. However, rollout has been held up as a result of the pandemic.

Respondents to the survey told HSBC and the Nielsen Company (Hong Kong) that they were mostly optimistic about the outlook for the Hong Kong stock market, and 70 per cent of them plan to put a bigger share of assets in the territory. 

The online study was carried out in the fourth quarter of 2020 among people living in nine cities, who own or intend to take up financial products in Hong Kong for the next 12 months.

Schemes such as the Connect system are designed to tighten financial links between mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and parts of the surrounding region. In a way, the arrangement is also a competitive play at a time when Singapore continues to push itself as, arguably, the foremost wealth management hub in Asia. 

The survey found that 67 per cent of the respondents identified wealth accumulation as their key investment objective, followed by preparing for life in retirement (44 per cent) and saving for their children’s education (42 per cent). For those already invested in Hong Kong, funds (38 per cent) and stocks (37 per cent) are the most popular products.

“With Wealth Management Connect, Hong Kong’s financial institutions can help GBA Southbound investors allocate their assets globally, thereby capturing [a] new wealth of opportunities in international markets,” Daniel Chan, head of Greater Bay Area, HSBC, said. “The findings reveal that GBA Southbound investors have [a] strong interest to participate in Wealth Management Connect. Guangdong is one of the most affluent regions in mainland China, with 290,000 families owning over RMB10 million in assets.”