The investor survey conducted by the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association shows that Hong Kong remains the most attractive market for investors in the next 12 months (72%), followed by Mainland China (63%) and North America (49%). Investors also show interest in the markets of Japan (41%), Europe (41%), and India (30%). The industries investors are most interested in investing in include artificial intelligence and related fields, followed by the healthcare industry, green or ESG-related industries, and banking and finance. Additionally, 75% of the respondents are interested in investing in cryptocurrencies, with 41% preferring to invest in ETFs through cryptocurrency exchanges listed in Hong Kong, and 39% choosing products from locally licensed and regulated virtual asset trading platform operators. The Hong Kong Investment Funds Association commissioned Nielsen 1Q to conduct an online survey of 500 Hong Kong investors from May 22-29, 2024. The respondents were individuals who are currently investing in retail funds, have a personal annual income of at least HK$300,000, and have liquid assets of at least HK$200,000. The survey shows that 55% of the respondents are optimistic about the global economy in the next 12 months, with 36% and 10% holding neutral and negative views respectively. 52% of the respondents are optimistic about the economic outlook for Hong Kong, while 29% are pessimistic. 21% of investors consider the outlook for the Chinese economy to be the most important factor when making investment decisions, followed by the global economic outlook (17%) and the US economic outlook (17%). When asked about the main considerations when making investment decisions, most respondents chose the global economic outlook (67%), followed by interest rate trends (59%) and the economic outlook for Hong Kong (57%). A majority of respondents (52%) consider "regular interest income" to be one of the top three investment objectives, followed by capital growth (49%) and beating inflation (43%). Most respondents expect a rate cut to start in the fourth quarter of 2024 or the first quarter of 2025. On average, respondents say that interest rates would need to drop to 2.4% before they would consider investing their cash. Co-Chairman of the Hong Kong Investment Funds Committee, Paul Chow, said that despite investors generally feeling optimistic about the economic outlook, many still seem reluctant to invest more cash. As most respondents expect a rate cut later this year or early next year, they may consider retail funds as a long-term investment to potentially gain capital growth and dividend returns.