Global retail investors shift to cash, but Asia still draws wealthy clients: Schroders CEO
High-net-worth clients continue to seek opportunities in Asia, taking a longer-term view despite global uncertainties, Richard Oldfield says
“What we saw in March was a reversal of the trend that we had seen at the end of 2025 and in January and February, when people increased their interest in investing in stocks,” said Richard Oldfield, global CEO of Schroders.
“What really happened in March was a shift into a risk-off, particularly from retail investors globally as people moved more into cash.”
“Both retail and institutional investors invest in times when they are feeling confident, and they are certain about what is going on,” Oldfield said. “Facing the uncertainty means they generally hold back from making investment decisions or allocating funds, and certainly retail investors, they’re often sitting on cash.”
Under such conditions, diversification and actively managed investment strategies offered the flexibility and bottom-up approach to reallocate capital within different classes to manage risk and capture returns, he added.