Retail investors seek solace in overseas stocks

It has taken a slump in the property market, a white-knuckle ride on local shares and a currency devaluation, but China's retail investors are finally taking a serious look at overseas stocks and bonds.

That is music to the ears of foreign brokers and wealth managers and to local entrepreneurs who can make a profit on their coat tails, for the sums involved could be vast.

Investment bank China International Capital Corp Ltd said China's high-net-worth individuals control $4.4 trillion in assets, but allocate only 5 percent of their wealth overseas, compared with a global average of 24 percent, and ordinary middle-class savers hold further trillions on deposit in Chinese banks.