Affluent Canadians prefer to invest and travel close to home and this may be preventing them from investing in fast growing emerging markets, suggests a recent poll commissioned HSBC Bank Canada.

The poll finds that Canada’s affluent, those with investable assets of $100,000 or more, concentrate nearly three quarters of their investments in Canada.

Even though 62% of respondents confirm they feel it’s important to have a diversified portfolio that includes emerging markets, only 8% of investments are currently concentrated in those areas.

The survey reveals that a lack of familiarity may be one of the key hurdles to investing in emerging markets — with 71% of respondents indicating they need to feel well informed about a market before they invest there.

“The survey results demonstrate that emerging markets represent an untapped opportunity among this Canadian demographic,” says Margaret Willis, executive vice president, head of retail banking and wealth management, HSBC Bank Canada

“By 2050, we predict that the GDP of emerging economies will have increased five-fold, and that 19 of the world’s top 30 economies will be found in emerging markets. When you look carefully, you see that some of the world’s most attractive investments are found beyond our borders.”

Given familiarity with a market has been highlighted as a key need for affluent Canadians prior to investment, it’s not surprising that they’re overlooking the less frequented emerging markets, which don’t necessarily make their travel list.

The poll results show that both investments and time are being concentrated in North America.

In the past three years, 73% of Canada’s affluent have spent two months or less outside Canada, while only 1 /10 have spent four months or more abroad.

The United States was the most common travel destination for Canada’s affluent, with 78% confirming they’ve travelled there in the last three years.

The U.S. is also their second favourite investment market. When affluent Canadians do invest outside Canada, more than half (55%) choose to do so in the United States, which was higher than any international alternative.

Conducted in October, the HSBC-commissioned study on the travel and investments trends of Canada’s affluent was conducted by Angus Reid Public Opinion among a representative sample of 1,031 Canadians with investable assets of $100,000 or more.