Sixty nine per cent of high net worth individuals are now looking to ‘rebalance and diversify’ their investment portfolios in order to reduce their exposure to UK-based assets in the wake of the Brexit vote, according to a new poll.
When asked: “Do you intend to decrease your investment exposure to the UK during the remainder of 2016 following Britain’s decision to leave the EU?” 69 per cent of clients contacted by deVere Group.
Eighteen per cent responded ‘No’ and 13 per cent did not yet know.
Some 770 people with investable assets of GBP1m or more from countries including the UK, the US, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Hong Kong, South Africa and Switzerland were surveyed in July 2016.
Nigel Green, deVere Group’s founder and CEO, says: “This new poll’s results show that high net worth investors are overwhelmingly considering rebalancing and diversifying their portfolios following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.
“These HNW investors are seeking to reduce their exposure to UK-based assets in the wake of the impending Brexit. It would appear that they believe Brexit negotiations will be complex, and are likely to cause a flatter UK economy, and that other countries will achieve higher levels of growth in this period and, therefore, will produce higher returns.
“The survey underscores that Brexit is becoming a catalyst for high net worth investors to widen the scope of diversification within their portfolios.
“Brexit is now acting as a prompt for high net worth investors to ensure their portfolios are properly diversified due to heightened concerns over the UK economy.
“A well-diversified portfolio places investors in a prime position to make the most of opportunities, whilst simultaneously mitigating risk.
