breaking the mould: a question of personality

Volume 6: Breaking the Mould: A Question of Personality

In co-operation with the Economist Intelligence Unit

Barclays Wealth Insights

BW6_Outer_Section.qxd:Layout 1 5/8/08 19:53 Page 1

Barclays Wealth, the UK's leading wealth manager with total client assets of £133 billion globally (as of 31 December

2007), serves affluent, high net worth and intermediary clients worldwide. It provides private banking, fiduciary services,

investment management and brokerage. Thomas L. Kalaris, the Chief Executive of Barclays Wealth, joined the business

at the start of 2006.

Barclays Wealth is part of the Barclays Group, a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and

commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services

with an extensive international presence in Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia. It is one of the largest financial services

companies in the world by market capitalisation. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays

operates in over 50 countries and employs over 134,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money

for over 27 million customers and clients worldwide.

For further information about Barclays Wealth, please visit our website www.barclayswealth.com.

About Barclays Wealth

Written by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of Barclays Wealth, this sixth volume of Barclays Wealth Insights

examines the behaviour and attitudes of wealthy investors during times of volatility. It is based on two main

strands of research.

First, the Economist Intelligence Unit conducted a survey of 2,300 affluent and wealthy investors with investable

assets ranging from £500,000 to in excess of £30 million. Respondents were spread across a number of key

international markets, with the highest numbers of respondents from the United States, India, United Kingdom,

Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, Switzerland, Spain, the United Arab Emirates and Monaco. The survey took place

between March and April 2008.

This was supplemented with a series of in depth interviews with experts on wealth and behavioural finance. Our

thanks are due to the survey respondents and interviewees for their time and insight.

About this report

This item can be provided in Braille, large print or audio by calling 0800 400 100* (via TextDirect if appropriate).If outside the UK call +44 (0)1624 684 444* or order online via our website www.barclays.com

*Calls may be recorded so that we can monitor the quality of our service and for security purposes. Calls made to0800 numbers are free if made from a UK landline. Other call costs may vary, please check with your telecoms provider.Lines are open from 8am to 6pm UK time Monday to Friday.

Barclays Wealth is the wealth management division of Barclays and operates through Barclays bank PLC and its subsidiaries.

Barclays Bank PLC is registered in England and is authorised and regulated by the financial Services Authority. Registered No. 1026167.

Registered Office:1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP.

For information or permission to reprint, please contact Barclays Wealth at:Barclays Wealth Insights, Barclays Wealth, 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HPTel. 0800 851 851 or dial internationally +44 (0)141 352 3952 or visit www.barclayswealth.com

ForewordAt Barclays Wealth we are dedicated to providing our clients with the means to manage their wealth successfully. For this reason, we are committed to investing in research to better understand the value of wealth and itsimportance in the future.

In partnership with the Economist Intelligence Unit, we have developed the sixth volume of Barclays WealthInsights, a series of research reports which aim to provide a definitive picture of what being wealthy means inthe 21st century.

In this report, ‘Breaking the Mould: A Question of Personality’, we examine the choices that wealthy investors makeespecially during periods of volatility and explore the characteristics that determine why they make those choices.

With a wide range of information, advice and options available for investors accompanied by rapid rates of financialinnovation, keeping up with trends in a time of market uncertainty can be a challenge. The following pagesunderscore the importance of how personality traits and cognitive biases of investors can play a central role ininfluencing investment making decisions and the significance of expert advice in helping to close the knowledge gap.

As well as consulting with 2,300 wealthy individuals around the world, the Economist Intelligence Unit has onceagain worked with a panel of experts, drawn from academia, industry and financial circles, to provide additionalinsights and perspectives.

We hope that you find this volume an informative and enlightening read, and we invite you to look out for futureissues of Wealth Insights.

Thomas L. Kalaris Chief Executive Barclays Wealth

BW6_Internal_Section.qxd:Layout 1 5/8/08 19:51 Page 1

Our Insights Panel

Liam Bailey, Head of Residential Research, Knight Frank

Neil Beaton, Chief Investment Officer, Deloitte Private Client Services Group

Rosalyn Breedy, Counsel, international law firm Withers

Fergal Byrne, Author of Barclays Wealth Insights report

John Clemens, Managing Director, Tulip Financial Research

Greg Davies, Head of Behavioural Finance, Barclays Wealth

Stefan Jaecklin, Head of the Wealth and Asset Management practice, Oliver Wyman Management Consultants

Mark Kibblewhite, Managing Director and Head of UK Private Banking, Barclays Wealth

Professor Terrance Odean, Professor of Banking and Finance, Haas School of Business,University of California, Berkeley

Roman Scott, former Head of BCG Wealth, Calamander Group

Sandy Shipton, Executive Director of Wealth Management, Dubai International Finance Centre

Introduction

Volatility in financial markets is nothing new. From thetulip mania of the 17th century to the dotcom crash atthe start of the new millennium, the history of finance islittered with episodes during which markets see-sawedfrom exuberance to despair and back again.

In this respect, the current credit crisis, which had itsorigins in US sub-prime loans, is little different.Although the context and conditions may be dissimilarto previous crises, the response of investors is thesame – fear replaces confidence and an inevitablemarket downturn ensues.

It has long been suspected that the personality traitsand cognitive biases of investors play a central role ininfluencing asset prices and market cycles. In recentyears, a growing body of academics and practitionershas started to explore more carefully this intersectionbetween psychology and finance – usually termedbehavioural finance – to explain how and why investorsmake the financial decisions that they do.

Traditional finance holds that individuals behave in acompletely rational way and weigh up decisions basedon their access to information. In practice, however, thereality can be quite different. For example, investors canover-react or under-react to new information, discountevidence that does not support their viewpoint, ordisplay overconfidence in their own abilities.

During times of upheaval in financial markets, theseresponses can become exaggerated as investors seek toprotect their capital against swings in asset prices orprofit from uncertainty. As a discipline that seeks tounderstand the complex psychological and emotionalmake-up of investors, and to explain how they makewhat are sometimes irrational decisions, behaviouralfinance has never been more relevant than it is today.

The aim of this study, produced by the EconomistIntelligence Unit (EIU) on behalf of Barclays Wealth, is toexamine the choices that wealthy individuals make ontheir individual investment journey and, in particular, howthese decisions change in times of volatility. Based on aglobal survey of more than 2,300 affluent and high-networth individuals, it examines the responses of investorsto volatility in financial markets in terms of how theyselect, manage and monitor their investment portfolio.

Executive summary

Volatility in financial markets draws differentresponses from wealthy investors

Around half of the respondents to the survey say thatthey intend to increase allocation to cash in the currentenvironment, while just under one-third would switchtheir financial adviser. Reactions differ depending on ageand gender. Older investors are less likely to increaseallocation to cash, perhaps because they have experienceof previous cycles. Men are also more likely to increaseallocation to cash and switch financial adviser thanwomen. This reflects a general finding of theresearch – namely that men tend to be more active inchanging their portfolio in response to new information.

Property remains an attractive investment for thewealthy, especially in emerging markets

Current variations in the performance of house pricesaround the world have a bearing on respondents’appetite for increasing allocation to property. Incountries such as the UK and US, property prices arefalling, but in many Eastern European and Asiancountries, they are rising. Respondents from the mainemerging markets countries (BRIC + N11)1 were morelikely than those from the developed countries of theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD) to increase allocation to propertyin the current environment. Emerging market investorshave fewer choices than their developed country peers,and therefore a stronger weighting towards propertycan be expected, but the survey results also suggestcontinued strong confidence in property as aninvestment in key emerging markets. Even in regionswhere property prices are falling, such as North Americaand Europe, some investors still plan to increase theirdistribution to this asset allocation, perhaps hoping totake advantage of more attractive valuations, or as ameans of diversification.

Investors can become pre-occupied with theperformance of individual investments,more than that of the overall portfolio

The research suggests that there is a wide range ofmonitoring behaviour but in general, respondentsexamine the performance of specific stocks moreregularly than their overall portfolio, with just over halfof respondents monitoring this aspect of theirinvestment either weekly or daily. This is a commonreaction to volatility. A focus on the performance ofspecific assets can cause investors to take decisions thatmay make sense when considered on the basis of aspecific asset, but which are less rational in the contextof the overall portfolio. Too much attention to specificstocks and monitoring too often can lead to over-trading.

Too much information can lead to overload,impacting on investor behaviour

Individuals have never had so much financial informationat their fingertips, with a proliferation of businesscoverage in the traditional press and online. Too muchdata, however, can have a negative impact on howinvestors behave. This can lead to levels ofoverconfidence, which in turn can result in excessivetrading and the tendency to over-monitor portfolios.While too much information may cause problems, somedegree of data is essential and the survey suggests thatfor today’s wealthy investor, there are three maincategories of sources of financial information: personalrelationships, such as friends, family and peer groups;the media; and professional advisers, such as privatebanks, business advisers and brokers.

1BRIC countries refer to Brazil, Russia, India and China; the N11countries are Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria,Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Turkey and Vietnam

The age of

volatilityIn the past twelve months, levels of investor confidencehave been severely tested by a period of volatility anddislocation in financial markets.

It seems particularly timely, therefore, to investigate whatimpact such a climate has on the investment decision-making process. Wealthy individuals, like any othergroup, have been affected by market uncertainty.Regardless of whether they have lost money, futureexpectations have changed.

According to Greg Davies, Head of Behavioural Finance,Barclays Wealth, reactions to volatility among wealthyinvestors are very much linked to the fact that individualshave different behavioural and psychological profiles.Looking at the survey of more than 2,300 wealthyinvestors conducted by the Economist Intelligence Uniton behalf of Barclays Wealth, we can see a variety ofreactions to volatility. For example, some investors willspend more time analysing portfolios, while othersincrease levels of trading, switch advisers, increase risk intheir portfolio or change allocation to cash.

Mr Davies believes that behaviour in the face of volatilityis determined by what he describes as an individual’sfinancial personality. For example, one person may havea tendency towards pessimism, while another may havea leaning towards optimism; one person may beemotionally comfortable with volatility, while anothermay not be comfortable with it at all.

Given this range of outlooks and responses, it is clearthat the needs of individual investors are unique, andthere is no single portfolio that is appropriate in thecurrent environment. “By understanding how differentindividuals react to volatility, both rationally andemotionally, both short-term and long-term, you can seewhat structure their portfolio should have,” says MrDavies. “Once you understand people’s composure, timeframe and different aspects of their financial personality,you can build a portfolio designed to deliver performancethat reflects the specific trade-offs with which theirpersonality makes them comfortable.”

Cash is king

When markets become more volatile, there is atendency amongst some retail investors towards aknee-jerk reaction, on the assumption that they mustdo something to respond to the changed environment.But, according to Mr Davies, switching right after amarket downturn is not usually a good strategy and isfrequently akin to closing the stable door after thehorse has bolted.

“If you have failed to pick the turn in the market, often thebest response is to stay put, particularly if you have alonger-term horizon. Of course, this is not universal, butgenerally a knee-jerk reaction is not a good one,” he adds.

The survey reveals that a fairly high proportion of wealthyindividuals would make some substantive change inresponse to greater volatility. One of the most commonreactions is to increase allocation to cash – a classic de-risking response when investors are confronted withvolatility in their core asset classes of equities and bonds.While in some cases this would be the right decision, thekey is to consider the decision carefully, not respond in aknee-jerk way without weighing up the consequencesand relative benefits of each course of action. Almost halfof wealthy investors questioned for the survey say thatthey would increase their exposure to cash in the face ofvolatility. This is despite widespread agreement amongalmost two-thirds of respondents that, even if theyexperience losses, they continue to see investing asa long-term activity.

These findings seem to be reflected in investorbehaviour across different markets. “If you look at thestatistics, there is a clear de-leveraging across theindustry, and money market funds have been gaining alot of momentum,” says Stefan Jaecklin, Head of theWealth and Asset Management Practice, managementconsultancy Oliver Wyman.

That said, a move to cash should not necessarily beinterpreted as a change in willingness to support risk.“We need to distinguish between being able to bear riskand willingness to take on risk,” says Mr Jaecklin.“Certainly there has been a reduction in some investors’ability to take risk. If you lose substantial sums ofmoney, your ability to bear risk is reduced. But I don’tbelieve that there has necessarily been a long-termchange in people’s willingness to bear risk, althoughclearly there is a temporary reduction in risk-taking dueto less optimistic investment prospects.”

“You need to bear in mind that, even

if you maintain the same attitude to

risk but the volatility of the market

increases, you would need to reduce

your exposure to risky assets”

In some cases, increasing allocation to cash does notmean a more cautious attitude to risk. “You need tobear in mind that, even if you maintain the sameattitude to risk but the volatility of the market increases,you would need to reduce your exposure to riskyassets,” adds Mr Jaecklin. “This is because of volatilityrather than a change in your attitude to risk.”

A related finding from the survey shows both that UKinvestors are among the least likely to increase levels ofrisk in their portfolio in response to volatility, and thatthey are among the most likely to increase allocation tocash. Other countries whose investors are especiallylikely to increase allocation to cash include Australia, theUS and China. Australia and the US have been affectedby the economic slowdown and China is a country inwhich investors’ allocation to cash has traditionallybeen very high.

Table 1 - Per cent that would increase allocationto cash by country

Country Per cent

Australia 61

China 57

USA 51

Japan 47

Canada 46

Singapore 44

India 42

Spain 42

Italy 42

UAE 41

Monaco 40

Germany 40

Hong Kong 39

Switzerland 35

In a period of increased volatility, what change would you expect to make to the following?

Allocation of my existing investments to cash

Significant increase Small increase No change Small decrease Significant decrease

The amount of times I trade in the stock market

Time spent analysing portfolio

Likelihood that I would switch fund manager

Likelihood that I would switch bank

Level of risk in portfolio

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

15% 33% 32%

10% 22% 48% 14% 7%

9% 19% 50% 14% 8%

12% 8%

26% 36% 16% 9%

33% 31% 11% 7%

25% 33% 23% 10%

Graph 1 - All respondents

In a period of increased economic volatility, whatchange would you expect to make to the following?

Age also has a bearing on asset allocation in volatiletimes. From the survey results, we can see that youngerrespondents (those under the age of 50) are more likelyto increase their allocation to cash during marketupheaval than respondents over the age of 50. Youngerrespondents are also more prone to increase their

trading frequency. This is likely to reflect the fact thatolder investors will have more experience of previouscycles, and so tend to be less nervous in the face ofvolatility than the younger generation.

In a period of increased volatility, what change would you expect to make to the following?

Graph 3 - Respondents aged under 50

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

16% 27% 34%

10% 19% 47% 15% 9%

10% 16% 47% 16% 11%

13% 10%

23% 38% 17% 10%

31% 32% 13% 9%

18% 37% 23% 12%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

15% 36% 31% 11% 7%

14% 28% 35% 16% 8%

19% 34% 31% 11% 5%

9% 24% 49% 13% 5%

8% 21% 52% 12% 6%

10% 30% 30% 22% 8%

Graph 2 - Respondents aged 50 and over

Property ladder

Global property markets are currently a tale of twotrends: drops in average house prices in countries suchas the US, UK, Spain and Ireland, but continuedincreases in many Asian and Eastern Europeaneconomies. In the year prior to April 2008, the US houseindex compiled by the Office of Federal HousingEnterprise Oversight has fallen by around 5 per cent,although drops in states such as California, Nevada andFlorida are considerably higher. Meanwhile, houseprices in the UK have fallen by 3.8 per cent on anannualised basis between May 2007 and May 2008.

Other regions, however, have fared far better. Accordingto the Global House Price Index from Knight Frank, theproperty consultants, Singapore and Hong Kongenjoyed 29.9 per cent and 28.8 per cent annual growthin the year to the first quarter of 2008, while Russiagrew by 21.7 per cent and China by 11.7 per cent.

The variation in performance of house prices aroundthe world is reflected in survey respondents’ appetite forincreasing their allocation to property. Respondentsfrom key emerging markets (BRIC countries plus N11)are considerably more likely to say that they plan toincrease allocation to property than those fromdeveloped, OECD countries. Nearly half (48 per cent) ofrespondents from emerging markets say that they planto increase allocation to property (including their ownresidence) compared with 37 per cent of respondentsfrom OECD countries.

This partly reflects strong positive sentiment in futurehouse price growth, but also a relative lack of depth infinancial markets for some of these emerging marketcountries. With fewer choices than their developedcountry peers, emerging market investors inevitablyhave strong weightings towards property.

Graph 4 - Respondents from OECD countries

In the next year, how do you expect your percentage allocation to the following asset classes to change?

Greater No change Smaller

Currency

Commodities (e.g. gold)

Property (including property in which you live)

Alternative investments (such as hedge funds, private equity)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Bonds 26% 59% 15%

Overseas stocks 40% 45% 15%

Domestic stocks 24% 54% 22%

28% 47% 25%

22% 57% 21%

33% 52% 15%

37% 46% 17%

24% 59% 17%

A slightly more varied picture emerges when looking atthe individual countries in the survey whererespondents are most likely to increase allocation toproperty. Here, China and India lead the field, followedby Singapore, which continues to experience strongproperty price growth. The UK, Germany and Spain arethe least likely to increase allocation to property, nodoubt reflecting concerns in those countries about theprospects for property prices in the short term. The US,where house price falls have been occurring for a longertime, ranks in the middle of the list. The fact that

expected property allocation in the US is greater than incountries such as the UK may reflect optimism that thetide will turn in the next couple of years, or thatattractive valuations make for good long-terminvestment opportunities.

Commodities (e.g. gold)

Property (including property in which you live)

Alternative investments(such as hedge funds, private equity)

Domestic Stocks

Greater No change Smaller

Overseas stocks

Currency

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Graph 5 - Respondents from BRIC and N11 countries

Liam Bailey, Head of Residential Research at Knight Frank,points out that property needs to be viewed differentlyfrom other asset classes. “It’s hard to look at property inthe same way as other asset classes because residentialproperty is not evaluated purely in terms of financialreturns,” he says. “Many wealthy people also use theirproperties for their own personal use. They are part oftheir own personal consumption and only partially lookedat in terms of investment.”

According to Mark Kibblewhite, Managing Directorof Barclays Wealth, property has become a moreimportant part of wealthy individuals’ portfolios in recentyears due to its diversification possibilities. “In theshort-term, the property market is in a down-cycleand there is broad agreement that prices have been

overstretched” he says, “But over the longer-term, webelieve that there is room for investors to increase theirexposure to property, both in terms of its value fordiversification and generally as an asset class.”

He adds that once people have decided to invest inproperty, there are other questions to be addressed.“It’s a complex area. Exposure to property can beachieved in many different ways, such as owning aproperty directly, through a property fund, or bypurchasing shares in a property company. However, oneneeds to be careful – you can get the asset class rightbut fail to express your view in the optimal way.”

Singapore

Monaco

Canada

Australia

Hong Kong

United States of America

Switzerland

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Germany

United Kingdom

Graph 6 - Per cent who will increase allocation to property in next 12 months by country

“Many wealthy people also use theirproperties for their own personal use.They are part of their own personalconsumption and only partiallylooked at in terms of investment.”

Liam Bailey, Head of Residential Research, Knight Frank

Changing times

The survey suggests that some investors will take evenmore direct action in response to market upheaval thantweaking their asset allocation – many would even go asfar as switching their financial adviser or bank. Just underone-third of wealthy individuals say that they wouldrespond to financial volatility by increasing the likelihoodof changing their financial adviser, while 28 per cent saythat they would be more likely to switch their bank.

While there may be cases where this response isappropriate, it is not always a rational one. “Switchingbrokers after a period of economic volatility is a bit likeblaming the weatherman when the weather is not good,”says Terrance Odean, Professor of Banking and Finance,Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley.“In saying ‘the market has been performing lousy lately soI will change broker’, investors are indulging in magicalthinking. It’s another thing, however, if the broker hasbeen clearly underperforming consistently.”

This point underscores an important difference. Insome cases, investors will have clear communicationwith their adviser about the available choices and riskinvolved, and the portfolio selected will reflect theinvestor’s needs. If the portfolio fails to meetexpectations because of adverse market movements,and if the investor was made fully aware of the risks,it may not be rational to switch fund manager inthese circumstances.

This is different from a scenario where investors have agenuine complaint about how their affairs have beenmanaged, relative to the mandate they gave. If thewrong investments have been selected on the basis ofthat mandate, or if the risks have been poorly explained,or if the fund manager has failed to react to thechanging market environment, then investors may bemore justified in deciding to select a new provider.

Table 2 - Per cent that would be more likely toswitch fund manager by country

Country Per cent

UAE 48

Italy 44

Monaco 41

Spain 37

Japan 36

Singapore 35

India 32

Canada 31

Germany 31

Hong Kong 29

Switzerland 28

China 27

Australia 24

USA 23

Among respondents to the survey, wealthy investorsfrom the UAE are most likely to consider switching theirfund manager in response to volatility, while those fromthe US are least likely. “In recent years, the wealthy inthe UAE have become more discriminating anddemanding in their expectations about performance,”says Sandy Shipton, Executive Director of WealthManagement at the Dubai International Financial Centre.“They expect higher than average levels of investmentperformance and service and that’s probably why manywould take action in the face of volatility.”

Respondents from the UAE are also most likely toincrease the level of risk in their portfolio in responseto volatility, followed by investors from India and China.With these economies all growing at a rapid rate,investors may reason that a time of volatility is alsoone of opportunity.

Table 3 - Per cent that would increase level of riskin their portfolio by country

Country Per cent

UAE 43

China 41

India 40

Singapore 39

Monaco 37

Switzerland 37

USA 36

Japan 35

Hong Kong 34

Germany 33

Canada 32

Australia 31

Spain 29

Italy 27

The art ofmonitoring

With investors enduring a roller-coaster ride of fallingand rising asset prices, it is perhaps unsurprising thatsome pay more attention to performance and checkvarious aspects of their portfolio on a more regularbasis. Such behaviour, however, does not always leadto optimal results.

“If you pay too much attention and monitor too often,you may trade too much. Too much information canlead to people being overconfident, which in turn canresult in excessive trading,” says Professor Odean.

According to the survey, 71 per cent of wealthyindividuals monitor their overall portfolio at leastmonthly, while 41 per cent monitor their portfolio eitherweekly or daily. In general, respondents monitor theperformance of specific stocks more regularly than theiroverall portfolio, with just over half monitoring thisaspect of their investment either weekly or daily.

“We do see quite a lot of what you might call anindividual investment focus, where investors canbecome preoccupied with the performance ofindividual investments, more than the overall portfolio,”says Mr Jaecklin. “Investors can get upset aroundvolatility in a sub-account while not really thinkingabout the aggregate volatility of the portfolio.” Thisfocus on the performance of specific assets is acommon problem among investors, and can causethem to take decisions that may make sense whenconsidered on the basis of a specific asset, but are lessrational in the context of the overall portfolio.

A volatile market environment may cause some investorsto retreat into cash or seek out a new adviser but, moregenerally, it also leads to differences in the wayindividuals monitor their portfolio. According to thesurvey, just over half of respondents say they wouldrespond to increased periods of volatility by spendingmore time analysing their portfolio.

According to Mr Davies, there is no right answer to thefrequency of monitoring. “How frequently an individualmonitors their portfolio is linked to their level ofcomposure,” he says. “People who monitor daily oftenhave what we could call low levels of composurecompared with people who monitor annually. Theresearch shows that there is a wide range of monitoringbehaviour. It’s an important dimension of an individual’sfinancial personality and can have a significant impacton many other areas of their financial behaviour.”

Mr Davies cites the following example to illustratedifferences in composure. If someone who held adiversified global equity and bond portfolio went to sleepin January and woke up in June, there would be littlechange in its overall value. But, if they had been followingthe market on a daily or weekly basis, they would haveendured a sequence of highs, lows, gut-wrenchingmarket moves and sleepless nights.

The art of monitoring is intimately linked to the topic ofbenchmarks. The survey shows that some investorsbenchmark against the market, while others benchmarkagainst absolute returns. People who monitor more tendto focus on relative benchmarks rather than absoluteones. The more important monitoring and awareness are to an individual, the more it matters to them what themarket is doing relative to their investment performance.

Individuals’ perception of their own skills – and the extentto which they believe this has contributed to theirsuccess instead of pure luck – also determines aninvestor’s approach to monitoring. For example, thesurvey indicates that those wealthy investors whoattribute success to skills are more likely to monitor andtake risks. People who believe in their own skills, he adds,will not settle for second best and have a greaterenjoyment of making money.

Daily Weekly Monthly AnnuallyQuarterly Less than annually

Overall performance

Asset allocation

Performance of specific asset classes

Performance of specific stocks

Property prices

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

10% 18% 27% 29% 13%

13% 21% 29% 24% 10% 3%

24% 27% 24% 16% 6% 3%

9% 16% 24% 26% 17% 8%

26% 30% 20% 7% 2%

How frequently do you monitor the following aspects of your portfolio?

Graph 7 - All respondents

In search ofabsolute returnsRecent economic volatility has drawn wealthyinvestors’ attention to absolute return funds. Althoughdefinitions vary, these funds generally aim to achieve aconsistent positive monthly return regardless of theperformance of the financial markets.

For wealthy people, an absolute return approach canoften correspond with an aspiration to protect the valueof their wealth in real terms. “Intuitively, absolute returnsmake a lot of sense to some wealthy people as theirprimary motivation is to maintain steady returns ratherthan aim for exponential growth,” says Mr Kibblewhite.

This is not to say that absolute returns are necessarilyrelated to slow and steady returns, or that they are bynature a low-risk investment strategy. Absolute returnscan also encompass a much higher-risk strategy - thekey, however, is that they are designed to provide asmooth investment path or trajectory.

The survey looked at wealthy individuals’ appetite andunderstanding of different measures of financial return,such as how their investments perform against eachother, whether they assess the performance of theirinvestments against that of the stock market or theirpeers, and their reaction to market downturns and risks.

According to Mr Davies, the differing preferencesreflected in the survey answer a key question: why anindividual might want either an absolute return portfolioor a market return portfolio or a blend of both.

“These preferences are not driven by differences in riskprofile but by whether someone wants to choosesmooth returns or the roller-coaster route,” he says.“You could, for example, have two portfolios: one amarket return and one an absolute return portfolio, both

of which have about the same long-term risk/returntrade-off but generate very different return paths overthe life-cycle of the investments. Investors differ in away that goes beyond how much risk someone isprepared to take.”

According to the survey, the way in which individualsmonitor their portfolio is connected with their appetitefor absolute or market return portfolios, whether or notthey think about their investments explicitly in theseterms. The results suggest that people who are moreaware of their investment performance and whomonitor on a regular basis will naturally have a strongermarket return focus and vice versa.

There is also a dynamic aspect to benchmarking,according to Mr Davies. “Quite rationally, if people aredoing well, they tend to veer towards a marketbenchmark and, if the market isn’t, they focus more onan absolute benchmark,” he says.

One benefit of an absolute return approach is that itencourages investors to exert self-control by fostering alonger-term view than is typical with a market-basedapproach. By setting goals that are based over a longerperiod, investors who stick with an absolute returnapproach are less likely to make interim decisions, basedon emotional responses to market events, which mayconflict with their own longer-term objectives.

The age of

informationMajor investment decisions, such as increasingallocation to cash or switching fund manager,should never be taken lightly.

While such responses may be more common duringtimes of financial upheaval, they can have a profoundimpact when asset prices are volatile and theperformance of fund managers is so uncertain.As much as possible, investors need to make decisionsfrom an informed position – both by ensuring that theyconsult appropriate advisers and by seeking out anddigesting information themselves.

Individuals have never had so much financialinformation at their fingertips. The amount of spacededicated to business coverage in traditional media hasincreased dramatically and this is being challenged bya rise in the proliferation of new media. Once upon atime, people were able to make money by acting uponinformation more quickly than others. Now, financialinformation travels around the world in nanoseconds,making it increasingly difficult to capitalise on first-moveradvantage. At the same time, individuals have a widerrange of sources of investment advice than ever before:from independent financial advisers to brokers, banksand other intermediaries.

Too much information can, however, be a problem forinvestors. Harvard psychologist Paul Andreassen hasconducted research that explores the impact ofdifferent levels of financial information on both investorbehaviour and levels of profitability. Two groups weregiven information about a stock that they were thenasked to trade. One group received a steady flow offinancial information, while the second group receivedonly quarterly earnings releases. Mr Andreassen foundthat the group with access to less information traded lessfrequently and made twice the profits of the high-information group. It seems that the group with moreinformation was more confident that all this data wouldallow it to anticipate better the movements of the market.

Business adviser

Friends and family

The media

Peer group

Specialist finance company

Private bank

0 10 20 30 40 50

Broker

High-street bank

Family office

Other, please specify

Private bank

Assets between £500,000 and £1m

Assets between £1m and £10m

Assets between £10m and £30m

Assets greater than £30m

Business adviser

Peer group

Friends and family

0 10 20 30 40 50

Graph 8 - Which of the following sources ofinvestment advice are most important to you?

Graph 9 - Sources of investment advice whensegmented by wealth

Additional interesting findings emerge when wesegment the responses by wealth. Here, there is a noticeable trend that, as investorsincrease their wealth, they are considerably more likelyto rely on professional advice, while the media, inparticular, becomes less important. The influence offriends and family and peer group remains more or lessconsistent across all wealth bands.

Too much information may cause problems, but somedegree of information is essential. The EconomistIntelligence Unit survey suggests that, for today’swealthy investor, there are three main categories offinancial information: personal relationships, such asfriends, family and peer group; the media; andprofessional advisers, such as private banks, businessadvisers and brokers. In general, no single source ofinformation stands out as being particularly importantfor the respondents: most investors appear to consult arange of people before making a decision.

(All respondents)

“Wealthier individuals tend to have more complexfinancial needs and are more likely to seek out specialisedprofessional advisers,” says Mr Kibblewhite. “While manywealthy individuals are happy to use longstandingbusiness advisers, accountants and lawyers, they tend tosearch out the very best specialist advisers.”

Wealthier individuals also tend to outsource theplanning of their investment decisions to specialistadvisers, according to Neil Beaton, Chief InvestmentOfficer within Deloitte’s Private Client Services group.“High-net worth individuals with assets of £10 million ormore certainly read the financial newspapers avidly butwe find that the larger clients also tend to outsourcemore of their investment planning decisions,” he says.

“Wealthier individuals tend to have

more complex financial needs and

are more likely to seek out

specialised professional advisers”

Mr Jaecklin of Oliver Wyman believes that there are twolevels of delegation associated with wealthy individuals:taking the decision to place money with a wealthmanager in the first place and the level of interactionmaintained thereafter.

“The first level is mainly determined by culture, thesecond by sophistication [the perceived knowledge offinancial markets] and levels of wealth,” he says. “Thelatter type of investor, as well as the wealthier ones,tend to be more involved in the management of theirassets. They interact more frequently with their privatebanker as well as viewing their banker as a sparringpartner, rather than simply relying on them for advice.”

“In general, there is no relationship

between the willingness of

wealthy individuals in the UK to

delegate and their self-perception

of financial expertise”

However, Mr Davies says that this relationship betweenlevels of delegation and financial sophistication is muchlower than conventionally assumed. “In general, there isno relationship between the willingness of wealthyindividuals in the UK to delegate and their self-perception of financial expertise. This changes when welook specifically at wealth management clients, who ingeneral have higher delegation scores. There is a slighttendency for those who think of themselves as havinghigher expertise to delegate less and be more involvedwith their financial decision-making.”

Media makes its markAlthough it becomes less influential as wealthincreases, the media is clearly an important source offinancial planning and investment information for thewealthy today. Indeed, both the Wall Street Journal andthe Financial Times have clearly targeted the wealthy,as have new publications like Portfolio magazine. Morebroadly, there has been a deepening financial coveragein the quality press. “In the past 10 years, the qualityand depth of financial coverage in the mainstreampress has improved enormously,” says Mr Kibblewhite.

He adds, however, that sometimes there is too muchinformation for people to make decisions. “The flow ofinformation is such that it is hard for non-professionalsto make sense of it and act upon it. You also need tobear in mind that, in many cases, when a piece ofinformation appears in the financial press, it has alreadybeen acted upon by others. So the information doesn’thave the same value.”

Gender differencesThere are also noticeable gender differences in relationto sources of information used. Women tend to be lessinfluenced by the media than men but are more likely toturn to friends and family. Male respondents, however,rated the media as their most important source offinancial information.

A study from asset management firm OppenheimerFunds explores this finding further. It found that womenare three times more likely than their male counterpartsto seek financial advice from people, whereas menprefer to trawl through financial publications. Evenwhen men do seek financial advice, the study foundthat they still refer to the media and often wonder howcertain articles would affect their portfolio.

The media

Business advisor

Peer group

Friends and family

Private bank

0 10 20 30 40 50

Broker

High-street bank

Family office

Friends and family

Business advisor

Peer group

Private bank

The media

0 10 20 30 40 50

High-street bank

Broker

Family office

Which of the following sources of investment advice are important to you?

Graph 10 - Male respondents Graph 11 - Female respondents

The media can lead to another common problem inthat investors may focus excessively on “attention-grabbing stocks”. In a study conducted by ProfessorOdean in collaboration with Brad Barber, Professor inFinance at UC Davis Graduate School of Management,entitled ‘All that Glitters: The Effect of Attention andNews on the Buying Behaviour of Individual andInstitutional Investors’, it was found that investors tendto over-invest in well-publicised stocks whether the newsis positive or negative, and regardless of whether the priceof the stock rises or falls. As long as there are newsworthyevents of any kind related to those stocks, investors aremuch more likely to buy them than to sell them.

“So while you may pick up theinformation from the media andyour friends and family, thequestion of what you do with thatinformation when you have arelationship with a bank or adviseris a different one”

It is important, however, to distinguish between themedia as a source of information and its role as astimulus to action. “You may get information from themedia, then turn to your private banker or otherfinancial adviser and ask what action they recommend,”says Mr Jaecklin. “So while you may pick up theinformation from the media and your friends and family,the question of what you do with that informationwhen you have a relationship with a bank or adviser is adifferent one.” Another issue for retail investors is thetime lag between receiving a new piece of informationand acting on it. Given the speed of markets and thecertainty that most institutional investors will bereacting almost instantly to new information, retailinvestors can find themselves at a disadvantage if theywait too long to respond.

John Clemens, Managing Partner, Tulip FinancialResearch, echoes this point. “Although research suggeststhat many wealthy individuals claim to make decisionswithout recourse to their financial adviser, it is a grey areain terms of exactly how much input advisers have ontheir decisions and the degree to which individualsactually make the final decision themselves,” he says.

Online and on target

The online environment has become an importantsource of information for the wealthy, according to arecent study of online behaviour in the US by theLuxury Institute, which found that the wealthy tendto spend more time online than any otherdemographic group. According to this research,almost three-quarters of wealthy consumers use theinternet for researching and gathering business andfinancial information. Nearly half (46 per cent) ofwealthy people seek company news, followed bystock analysis and world business news.

A recent study by Cogent Research in the US foundthat, by enabling people to share content, personalopinions and insights, social media and onlinetechnology were having an increasing impact onwealthy investors’ attitudes and behaviours. Nearlytwo-thirds of the wealthy with investable assets of atleast $100,000 say that online peer-generatedcontent about personal investing and financeinfluences their financial decisions. According to theCogent research, 58 per cent of high net-worthinvestors have increased investments, while morethan one-third have reduced investments in aspecific fund or company as a result of the onlineopinions of their peers.

‘ Given the speed of markets andthe certainty that most institutionalinvestors will be reacting almostinstantly to new information,retail investors can find themselvesat a disadvantage if they wait toolong to respond’

Knowledge and

understanding

Delegation and the use of external sources of advice –whether personal or professional – are importantindicators of investor motivation and behaviour, but sotoo is the level of sophistication and knowledge thatindividuals possess themselves.

There is a difference, of course, between real levels ofknowledge, and perceived levels of knowledge. In afamous experiment conducted by the Swedishresearcher Ola Svenson, it was found that 80 per centof respondents who were questioned for a survey ratedthemselves in the top 30 per cent of all drivers. In asimilar experiment, the majority of US college studentsresponded to researchers that they consideredthemselves to be “more popular than average”.

“Overconfidence of at least three different types has beenreliably shown to be ubiquitous – the most pertinent herebeing the “better than average effect” whereby peoplehave a strong tendency to think their knowledge is betterthan average when it’s not,” says Mr Davies.

Investors may also become overconfident when marketsare performing well – attributing their success to skillrather than market factors. “Over the past few years, wehave seen some clear signs of pro-cyclical investmentbehaviour – investment that is momentum-driven,” saysMr Jaecklin. “If the market is going up, then investorsthink that they are doing a good job and should investmore. This is clearly linked to the difficulty in separating

market performance from performance based on theinvestor’s ability. Of course, the recent difficult marketconditions have probably corrected this bias.” Thisphenomenon of attributing success purely to skill is onethat is captured well in the old Wall Street adage: “Don’tconfuse brains with a bull market.”

The survey asked wealthy investors to rate theirknowledge of a number of key aspects of finance incomparison with that of other people. Overall,respondents did not rate themselves excessively highly.Indeed, in no single aspect of finance did more than halfof the total set of respondents rate their knowledge asbeing better than that of their peers.

The chart opposite shows an aggregate confidencescore, derived by adding the percentage of respondentswho think they have above average knowledge to thosewho report average knowledge, and then subtractingthe proportion of respondents who consider that theyhave worse than average knowledge.

In general, it is clear that respondents feel mostconfident in their knowledge of domestic equities.This is not surprising, given that investors will be mostfamiliar with companies headquartered in their owncountry of residence and that the local media is likelyto cover these organisations in greater detail thanoverseas companies.

What is perhaps more surprising is the lack ofconfidence that investors display in their knowledge ofoverseas equities. Overall, they rate their knowledge ofthis aspect of finance as being on a par with theirknowledge of derivatives – a far more complexproposition with which only a small proportion of high-net worth investors will be fully conversant. Whileoverseas equities will be less familiar to investors,allocation to this asset class is an important componentof diversification, especially during times of volatility.

The survey finds that US respondents, in particular, arelikely to increase their allocation to overseas equities,perhaps reflecting concerns about the expectedperformance of their own domestic markets. Indeed, USrespondents are also least likely to increase allocation todomestic stocks.

Investing in domestic equities

Tax issues

Private equity

Pensions issues

Estate planning

Investing in overseas equities

Derivatives

Hedge Funds

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Compared with other people, how would you rate your knowledge of the following aspects of finance?

Graph 12 - Aggregate confidence score in comparison with peers

The fact that investors lack knowledge of overseasequities is likely, in part, to reflect a phenomenon knownas home bias, which is the tendency to preferinvestments that are more familiar and close to home.Home bias leads investors to over-invest in domesticequities, relative to foreign equities, despite thediversification benefits of including the latter in theirportfolios. By investing in foreign equities as well asdomestic, investors can spread their risk , whereasexcluding foreign equities results in a concentrated,and therefore inefficient, portfolio.

According to standard financial theory, investorsshould invest in domestic equities in proportion totheir country’s share of world stock marketcapitalisation. Investors all over the world, however,tend to show a significant bias towards investing intheir own domestic equity market. One research studyfrom the 1980s showed that Swedish investors, forexample, invested nearly exclusively in their domesticstock market, although Sweden’s market capitalisationat the time was about one per cent of the total worldmarket value of equities. Similar results have beenfound in many other markets.

Domestic stocks Per cent

Germany 37

India 34

China 32

UAE 31

Spain 28

Singapore 27

Monaco 27

Switzerland 26

Hong Kong 25

Canada 21

Japan 21

USA 20

Italy 13

Overseas stocks Per cent

Monaco 46

USA 44

Japan 42

Spain 40

China 39

UAE 39

Switzerland 38

Canada 38

Italy 38

Germany 37

Singapore 36

India 33

Hong Kong 31

Staying close to home

Table 4 - Per cent that would increase allocationto domestic stocks

Table 5 - Per cent that would increase allocationto overseas stocks

Home bias has long been explained by the notion thatlocal investors have “informational advantage” withrespect to their own domestic equities. But a recentsurvey of 234 German equity and bond managers foundthat local investors did not have any such informationaladvantage. Rather than relying on locally available datasources for investment decisions, investors relied onindustry opinion leaders, whose views were widelyavailable domestically and internationally.

Mr Davies argues that a small amount of home bias isactually quite reasonable. “It makes people morecomfortable,” he says. “But beyond a certain level,investors don’t realise how much not having a properlydiversified portfolio can cost them.” In other words,individuals may derive some degree of reassurancefrom the more familiar elements of their portfolio, andmay be prepared to sacrifice some degree ofperformance in return for that familiarity. It is key,however, that investors are made aware of the pricethat they are paying. Moreover, this reliance on familiarinvestments can become a bias rather than a consciousdecision if it goes beyond a certain point.

John Clemens of Tulip Financial Research believes that ahome, or familiarity bias, is widespread in the UK, andthe bias is not just towards UK equities. “We see thatwealthy individuals have a disproportionate tendency toinvest in familiar investments. The FTSE 100, forexample, is a big favourite. Just being quoted on theFTSE seems to provide some familiarity for manywealthy investors. In the past couple of years, we haveseen an increased appetite among the wealthy to investin international equities to diversify their portfolio. Butmany were disappointed with their performance duringthe ongoing credit problems and have sold stock andinvested in the UK market instead.”

The aspect of finance in which respondents profess leastknowledge is hedge funds. “In our experience, theindividual level of knowledge of what hedge funds areand what they are designed to do is actually quite poor,”says Deloitte’s Neil Beaton. “Many wealthy individualsassume automatically that hedge funds are more riskythan long-only funds, and that is not necessarily true.”

Barclays Wealth’s Mark Kibblewhite believes that thecurrent market conditions have also helped to educatewealthy investors as to the benefits of hedge fundinvestments. “The recent market volatility and downturnhave made many wealthy investors more aware of theattractions of absolute return portfolios [funds that aimto achieve constant positive monthly returns regardlessof market conditions],” he says. “Market conditions haveallowed us to educate clients to understand the benefitsof absolute return portfolios.”

Oliver Wyman’s Mr Jaecklin, however, warns that thecredit crisis may have changed the way some investorssee hedge funds. “Many wealthy investors havediscovered that hedge funds are not liquid asset classesand that you can’t liquefy these assets immediately,” hesays. “Part of the value proposition is that you capturean illiquidity premium as part of your return. Althoughsome investors did not seem to understand this, theywill have learnt by now.”

A sophisticated asset class

Comparing perceptions of knowledge across thegenders yields some interesting results: overall, womenfeel less confident than men in their relative financialknowledge across every aspect of finance. The gap inperceived knowledge is widest in the case of equities –both domestic and overseas – and narrowest in the caseof hedge funds (where the knowledge of both genders

appears equally poor) and pensions issues. The greaterlongevity of women is likely to play some part in theirrelatively high knowledge of pensions issues. Withwomen living on average three years longer than men,and with their life expectancy increasing all the time,planning for retirement is one aspect of finance that hasbecome absolutely essential for them.

Historical evidence has shown that women’s lack ofconfidence in financial issues stems in large part fromtheir relatively recent participation in the managementof money. In a 2006 study on gender differences ininvestment behaviour, carried out by the NASD InvestorEducation Foundation, female respondents reportedfeeling less confident than men about their current andfuture financial situations.

Clearly, however, there is much to suggest that thistrend is changing. The gap between the wealth held bymale and female high net worth individuals isnarrowing, and the number of women occupying toppositions in business, finance and government swelling.One impact of this is growing confidence in financialissues among women and a new generation of highlyfinancially astute female investors.

The gender gap

Tax issues

Private equity

Pensions issues

Estate planning

71%49%

58%48%

56%39%

54%40%

50%46%

53%36%

47%30%

44%37%

34%31%

Derivatives

Hedge funds

Men Women

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Graph 13 - Knowledge levels between men and women

Tax issues

Private equity

Pensions

Estate planning

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

72%59%

64%51%

60%51%

48%49%

54%48%48%

57%41%

62%35%

53%38%

39%29%

Derivatives

Hedge funds

North America Europe Asia

Regional and asset variationsCompared with other people, how would you rate your knowledge of the following aspects of finance?

Filtering the data by the three main global regions ofNorth America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, the mostconfident investors are almost without exception fromNorth America. In some cases, such as with investing inoverseas equities, the gap is considerable. The onlyexception to this rule is in the case of private equity,where respondents from Asia-Pacific express thegreatest confidence.

“Most of the wealthy in Asia are actually first-generationwealthy,” says Roman Scott, Managing Director ofSingapore-based investment management firmCalamander Group. “They have made their own money

through business so understand the world of businessvery well, which in many ways is actually what privateequity is.”

Wealth bands also have an impact on levels ofconfidence in financial knowledge – the wealthierindividuals are, the more secure they seem to be.Respondents with assets of £10 million and more displaya heightened sense of their financial understandingcompared to those with assets below that threshold inevery aspect of finance. The biggest differences inknowledge between the two wealth bands are related toinvesting in hedge funds, bonds and overseas equities.

Tax issues

Private equity

Pensions issues

Estate planning

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

71%64%

66%53%

66%49%

60%48%

58%47%

56%46%

57%40%

55%40%

51%30%

Derivatives

Hedge funds

More than £10m Less than £10m

Conclusion

In times of volatility, when investor responses can become exaggerated and

sometimes sub-optimal, the importance of understanding the psychological and

emotional factors that influence the investment decision-making process is greater

than ever. By contextualising these responses, and creating a picture of investors

based on their attitudes to risk, performance, objectives and other measures,

behavioural finance is helping to create tailored portfolios that match the

psychological profile of each individual.

The survey reveals that wealthy investors react tovolatility in a variety of different ways. Commonresponses include an increased allocation to cash,greater scrutiny of investment performance and theselection of new financial advisers. While in somecases these responses may be appropriate, investorsneed to be careful to avoid hasty reactions that mayprove counter-productive or detrimental toperformance over the long-term.

The need for reliable financial information is nevergreater than during times of market uncertainty. Whilewealthy investors typically consult a range of differentsources, it is clear that professional advice becomesmore important with increasing wealth, and whilesources of information such as the media are stillimportant, they decline somewhat in significance.

Although investors vary widely in the extent to whichthey will delegate financial decisions, some degree ofpersonal knowledge about the financial world is vital.The wide range of options that are available to wealthyinvestors, as well as the rapid rate of financialinnovation, means that keeping up with trends can be achallenge, especially with some of the more exoticfinancial instruments and asset classes. However, withinvestors around the world facing a highly volatilemarket environment, it is clear that knowledge, reliableadvice and an awareness of the impact of behaviour onthe decision-making process are among the mostpowerful tools that they have in their arsenal.

Written by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on behalfof Barclays Wealth, the report examines the choices thatwealthy investors make – especially during periods ofgreater volatility – and explores the characteristics thatdetermine why they are making those choices.

It is based on two main strands of research: a globalsurvey of more than 2,300 mass-affluent (with up to £1million in investable assets), high net worth (with up to

£10 million in investable assets) and ultra high net worthindividuals (with up to and in excess of £30 million ininvestable assets) and a series of in-depth interviewswith experts on wealth and investment behaviour.

Please note that in some cases percentages used in thereport may not equal 100, as survey participants wereasked to select three choices.

Methodology

The 2,300 respondents were recruited from EIUdatabases of individuals around the world.The survey was undertaken between March and April2008 by the EIU.

Geography: Canada, the United Arab Emirates, HongKong, India, Monaco, Spain, Singapore, Switzerland, theUnited Kingdom and United States were eachrepresented by 100 respondents. Additional

respondents were generated from elsewhere in theworld (30 per cent North America; 30 per cent Europe;30 per cent Asia-Pacific; 5 per cent Latin America; 3 percent Middle East; 2 per cent Africa).

Net worth: 40 per cent between £500,000 and £1million in investable assets; 40 per cent between £1million to £10 million; 10 per cent between £10 million to£20 million; and 10 per cent have more than £30 million.

Survey demographic

Legal noteWhilst every effort has been taken to verify theaccuracy of this information, neither the EconomistIntelligence Unit Ltd. nor Barclays Wealth can acceptany responsibility or liability for reliance by any personon this report or any of the information, opinions orconclusions set out in the report.

This document is intended solely for informationalpurposes, and is not intended to be a solicitation oroffer, or recommendation to acquire or dispose of anyinvestment or to engage in any other transaction, or toprovide any investment advice or service.

Contact us

For more information or to be involved in the nextreport email barclayswealthinsights@barclays.com

Tel. 0800 851 851 or dial internationally +44 (0)141 352 3952

www.barclayswealth.com

Barclays Wealth, the UK's leading wealth manager with total client assets of £133 billion globally (as of 31 December

2007), serves affluent, high net worth and intermediary clients worldwide. It provides private banking, fiduciary services,

investment management and brokerage. Thomas L. Kalaris, the Chief Executive of Barclays Wealth, joined the business

at the start of 2006.

Barclays Wealth is part of the Barclays Group, a major global financial services provider engaged in retail and

commercial banking, credit cards, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services

with an extensive international presence in Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia. It is one of the largest financial services

companies in the world by market capitalisation. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays

operates in over 50 countries and employs over 134,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money

for over 27 million customers and clients worldwide.

For further information about Barclays Wealth, please visit our website www.barclayswealth.com.

About Barclays Wealth

Written by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of Barclays Wealth, this sixth volume of Barclays Wealth Insights

examines the behaviour and attitudes of wealthy investors during times of volatility. It is based on two main

strands of research.

First, the Economist Intelligence Unit conducted a survey of 2,300 affluent and wealthy investors with investable

assets ranging from £500,000 to in excess of £30 million. Respondents were spread across a number of key

international markets, with the highest numbers of respondents from the United States, India, United Kingdom,

Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, Switzerland, Spain, the United Arab Emirates and Monaco. The survey took place

between March and April 2008.

This was supplemented with a series of in depth interviews with experts on wealth and behavioural finance. Our

thanks are due to the survey respondents and interviewees for their time and insight.

About this report

This item can be provided in Braille, large print or audio by calling 0800 400 100* (via TextDirect if appropriate).If outside the UK call +44 (0)1624 684 444* or order online via our website www.barclays.com

*Calls may be recorded so that we can monitor the quality of our service and for security purposes. Calls made to0800 numbers are free if made from a UK landline. Other call costs may vary, please check with your telecoms provider.Lines are open from 8am to 6pm UK time Monday to Friday.

Barclays Wealth is the wealth management division of Barclays and operates through Barclays bank PLC and its subsidiaries.

Barclays Bank PLC is registered in England and is authorised and regulated by the financial Services Authority. Registered No. 1026167.

Registered Office:1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HP.

For information or permission to reprint, please contact Barclays Wealth at:Barclays Wealth Insights, Barclays Wealth, 1 Churchill Place, London, E14 5HPTel. 0800 851 851 or dial internationally +44 (0)141 352 3952 or visit www.barclayswealth.com

Volume 6: Breaking the Mould: A Question of Personality

In co-operation with the Economist Intelligence Unit

Barclays Wealth Insights

breaking the mould: a question of personality

barclays wealthbarclays

behalf of barclays wealth

barclays wealth insightsvolume

barclays group

barclays bank plc

uks leading wealth manager

investment banking

economist intelligence

Business

new benjamin mould - maris ancestry mould.pdf · 2018. 4....

breaking the mould - or how technology changes the way we...

breaking the amsp mould: the increasingly strange case of...

russell tipper, brockman mining australia - the marillana...

professional thin wall mould maker · disposable cutlery...

refactoring for continuous delivery: breaking the mould

breaking the mould - reliefweb · 2019. 6. 24. · breaking...

die and mould die and mould die and mould filedie and mould...

women in science breaking the mould · 2018-03-06 · cover...

sustainable homes - breaking the mould report · forward in...

diamond logistics - breaking the mould

breaking the mould · 2020-01-17 · breaking the mould an...

sinead reen - breaking the mould

breaking the mould - cambridge-design.com

breaking the mould: leisure reading – not just for public...

breaking the mould: engaging with coil to enhance

breaking the mould...breaking the mould an institutionalist...

breaking the linear mould - cable systems

are we breaking the mould of older people’s housing?...

breaking the mould: how etsy and online craft marketplaces...