By: Kheng-Liang Tan

According to its latest Global Investor Survey covering 20,000 people accross 28 countries, asset management firm Schroders found that Singaporean investors have an unrealistic expectations of investment returns.

On average, investors in Singapore expects a minimum returns of 9.2% per annum. Within different age groups, millennials expect the most at 9.6% while those above 36 expect a more modest 8.9%.

Such figures can be contrasted with the average market yield of 3.8%.

In Singaore, investors stay invested for 3.06 years on average. Millennials hold their investments for an average of 2.61 years while their older counterparts do so for 3.47 years.

In the survey, “investors” are defined as those who will be investing at least 10,000 euros (or equivalent) in the next 12 months and who have made changes to their investments within the last five years.

Schroders also highlighted that the average Singaporean only starts saving for retirement at 31.5 years of age, while setting aside only 14.9 per cent of their annual income.

Susan Soh, Schroders Singapore Country Head, said that “some investors will not have accumulated sufficient funds to support their desired retirement lifestyle.”