Hong Kong investors no longer Asia’s best

New Zealand is the new Number One.

MasterCard’s latest research shows New Zealanders having the best basic money management skills in the Asia/Pacific region; were tops in overall financial literacy and the best in overall basic money management. The Chinese, however, proved to be the most proficient investors.

On overall financial literacy, New Zealand ranked first with a score of 74 index points ahead of Singapore’s 72 index points and Taiwan’s 71 index points. India and Japan were at the bottom with 59 index points and 57 index points respectively, said MasterCard.

New Zealand was also first in overall basic money management (77 index points). This category includes skills such as day-to-day budgeting, keeping up with bills, credit commitments and setting money aside for big purchases. Behind New Zealand were Australia (75 index points) and Singapore (73 index points).

China was tops in understanding of bank statements and complex investment concepts such as diversification and inflation with 68 index points, ahead of Hong Kong (67 index points) and Taiwan (63 index points.