China still the market of choice for many Scottish investors

Scottish investors are putting more money into China and other emerging markets as confidence in UK market continues to slide, a report out today (SAT) reveals.

Recent market volatility in China has done little to deter Scots from investing in the region, according to a Bank of Scotland Private Banking survey of private investors. One in four Scottish investors sees China as the most likely source of potential investment returns, compared with just one in ten who views the UK as the most attractive market.

Almost 10 per cent of private investors in Scotland have sought to boost their exposure to emerging markets this year and a similar proportion plan to do so over the coming months, benefitting from a 17 per cent rally in the MSCI Emerging Markets index in 2012 to date.

Investors are steering clear of the eurozone, however, with 51 per cent of Scots considering it the most risky region. Next riskiest was Russia, with 9 per cent.

Willie Raeburn, director of Bank of Scotland Private Banking, said: “It is interesting to see Scots being less confident in the UK market than the national average and putting Russia as the second riskiest market behind the eurozone. This may well be down to connections through the oil and gas industry and worries about the huge Russian market.”