Asia's Ultra-Rich Turn to Gold, New Assets and Malaysia Real Estate

Asia's ultra-rich are increasingly willing to tap into new asset classes, gold is leaving Dubai for Singapore and wealthy Chinese are flocking to Malaysia, the Singapore CEO of Malayan Bank Bhd said.

Ultra-high-net-worth people are "always looking at both financial instruments as well as physical assets in real estate and in precious metal," Alvin Lee said in an interview. "Gold's rise in price is testament to the fact that it's a good store of value. It continues to be very appealing," he said.

While gold is off its record highs from early this year, its price of around $4,400 per ounce is still well elevated versus history, with Goldman Sachs forecasting the yellow metal to reach $4,900 by year-end on the back of central bank buying.

As Asia's richest people buy into precious metals, among the oldest investments in history, they're also willing to try much newer and more innovative concepts. That's coming as they "are very focused" on the transfer of wealth from older to younger generations, Lee said.

"Increasingly, we do see the wealthy being very open to new asset classes, whether it's digital assets or cryptocurrencies," Lee said, adding that the interest is coming primarily from the younger people.

Lee said that increasingly Chinese people are becoming quite open to investing in Malaysia. In terms of places to move business or even their families, "they are very open to Malaysia because in terms of valuation, it looks very attractive relative to Singapore."

According to the Hurun global rich list published in March, China has the highest number of billionaires at 1,110, surpassing the U.S. at 1,000.

"We see more Chinese buying up real estate for personal use as well as for their businesses in Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur is a beneficiary to that. I think Malacca is as well. Penang has always been quite appealing to the Chinese," Lee said, referring to cities and regions in Malaysia.