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Wealthy investors still shy about investing, survey shows

Opportunities exist but most high-net-work individuals are not taking advantage because they fear the markets will drop again

By Sue Asci

June 15, 2009 3:58 pm ET

While most wealthy investors agree that opportunities exist in the current market, they are not taking advantage, due to the risk of further price declines, according to a report released today by Barclays Wealth.

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The survey of more than 2,100 high-net-worth individuals around the world, which was conducted in April and May, found that 88% of respondents said that opportunities exist in the market, but 68% said they are staying away from those opportunities because they believe the risk of further price declines is too high, the report said.

According to the survey, due diligence is becoming more important to wealthy investors. Fully 46% of respondents said they plan to spend more time investigating investments before committing themselves. Also, 35% of advisers said that transparency of information from investment providers is becoming more important, up from 25% in a similar survey taken a year ago.

The survey was conducted for New York-based Barclays Wealth, a division of London-based Barclays Bank PLC, by the Economist Intelligence Unit Ltd. of London.

All respondents had at least $750,000 in investible assets and 40% had between $1.5 million and $15 million.

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