Affluent investors of Asian/Pacific Islands descent have grown more than fivefold as a group since 2002 and tend to be both richer and more aggressive than other affluent U.S. investors, according to an new report from Chicago-based financial services consulting firm Spectrem Group.

The report finds that Asian/Pacific investors now represent 5% of the overall affluent market, which comprises investors with investable assets of at least US$500,000. That figure compares with less than 1% in 2002. Further, affluent Asian/Pacific investors have an average net worth nearly one-third higher at US$2.9 million than others in the affluent group, whose average net worth is US$2.2 million.

“Asian/Pacific investors have become an important force in the financial services world — richer and substantially more aggressive than others with $500,000 or more to invest. Interestingly, they tend to be more self-directed in their investment approach, shunning full-service brokers and other financial advisors despite their willingness to take greater risks,” says Catherine McBreen, managing director of Spectrem Group.

Within the overall affluent group, 19% of Asian/Pacific investors said they are looking to at least double their wealth in the next five years, compared with 5% for the others. More than half (55%) have set aside a portion of their assets for higher-risk investments, and 67% say they are looking to build rather than preserve wealth.

More than one-third (37%) of affluent Asian/Pacific investors do not use financial advisors, compared with 29% of others in the affluent group. The Asian/Pacific group has more than double the average debt (US$263,766 vs. US$127,394) of other affluent investors. Asian/Pacific investors were more highly impacted by the recently ended bear market than other affluent investors. More than a quarter (28%) saw their assets decline by more than 50%, compared with 17% of others in the group.

Spectrem Group produced this new report from survey data gathered in the summer of 2003. About 3,300 affluent households were surveyed; the margin of error is plus or minus 1.7%.