Bangkok--22 Apr--Aziam Burson-Marsteller Thai investors remain among most optimistic among investors in 13 Asian markets Key Highlights of the Quarterly ING Investor Dashboard Survey Thailand, like the rest of Asia, is not insulated from the global market uncertainty; the subprime crisis and credit crunch remain key areas of concern While Thai and other Asian investors remain cautiously optimistic for the longer term and think the worst may be over, investors in Thailand are also among the more bullish in Asia Investors in Thailand and the rest of Asia adopt a “wait and see” investment approach to ride out the current market uncertainty Thai investors remain largely focused on investing in Thailand and continue to gravitate towards lower risk investments ING Asia Pacific (“ING”) today released data from the quarterly ING Investor Dashboard survey, which shows a further decline in investor sentiment in Asia, reinforcing the reality that the region is not insulated from the global market uncertainty. In particular, more developed markets like Hong Kong and Singapore have seen some of the biggest falls in investor sentiment. In spite of the recent turmoil in global financial markets, Thailand’s investor sentiment fell just 2.2% to 131 for Q1 2008 from 134, ranking it only behind Chinese and Indian investors in terms of overall investment optimism. As the region continues to take in the impact of the subprime crisis, global credit crunch and U.S. economic slowdown, the ING Investor Dashboard’s pan-Asia sentiment index fell to 125 in Q1 2008 from 135 for Q4 2007. The ING InvestorDashboard’s Asia sentiment index registered 141 for Q3 2007. Following the success of the ING Investor Barometer in Europe, an authoritative market indicator followed by key players in the European financial industry, the ING Investor Dashboard is the first quarterly survey in Asia Pacific that provides a specific industry benchmark for pan-Asia (ex-Japan) investor sentiment. It also allows for investor attitude and outlook across 13 individual markets to be referenced against a pan-Asia sentiment index on a quarterly basis. Developed Markets Like Hong Kong are Most Impacted The ING Investor Dashboard’s sentiment index for most Asian markets fell for Q1 2008 from Q4 2007, with more developed markets such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea showing the biggest falls: Hong Kong’s investor sentiment fell to 107 for Q 1 2008 from 148 for Q4 2007 Singapore’s investor sentiment fell to 88 for Q 1 2008 from 136 for Q4 2007 Korea’s investor sentiment fell to 96 for Q 1 2008 from 113 for Q4 2007 Despite the overall decline, pan-Asian investor sentiment (at the index level of 125) for Q1 2008 remained within the optimistic level. Fast-growing markets like China and India reflected the highest levels of investor optimism with investor sentiment index scores of 136 and 168 respectively. The subprime and credit crunch issues have also remained key areas of concern for Thai and other Asian investors. 65% of investors in Thailand and 73% of respondents in Asia (ex-Japan) expect the subprime crisis to impact their investment decisions in Q2 2008. “It is not surprising to find that investor sentiment has fallen in Asia over the last two quarters. The reality is that markets around the world are linked and Asia is therefore not spared the effects of the credit crunch and a slowdown in the U.S. economy. What we are seeing is that investors in the more developed markets like Hong Kong are being more impacted by the volatility of the global markets as investors there are more actively invested in global equity funds,” said Mr. Eddy Belmans, Regional General Manager, North Asia, ING Investment Management. Asian Investors Think the Worst May Be Over — Thai Investors Among the More Bullish in Asia Looking forward, the data also shows that Thai and most Asian investors are cautiously optimistic about the longer term, even though they are less bullish than in previous quarters about the current performance of their economies and markets. Survey results also indicate that Thai investors are among some of the more bullish in Asia. For Thai and most Asian investors, outlook on the economy, return on investment and state of personal financial situation for Q2 2008 are more positive compared to sentiment for Q1 2008, indicating that most Thai and Asian investors do not think economic growth will slow down significantly in the longer term and they are optimistic that the worst may be over. In Thailand: 62% of investors believe the economy will improve in Q2 2008, despite the fact that only 27% of them thought the economy improved in Q1 2008 78% of investors say they expect their return on investment to increase in Q2 2008, while only 46% of investors thought their return on investment had increased in Q1 2008 67% of respondents say they expect their state of person financial situation to improve in Q2 08, compared to 32% who felt their state of personal financial situation had improved in Q1 08 In Asia (ex-Japan): 48% of respondents in Asia (ex-Japan) indicate they have a positive outlook for the economy in Q2 2008 compared to 32% who felt the economy had improved in Q1 2008 57% of respondents in Asia (ex-Japan) also say they expect their return on investment to increase in Q2 2008, particularly for China at 71%, Hong Kong at 52% and Korea at 48% 56% of respondents in Asia (ex-Japan) also say they expect their state of personal financial situation to improve in Q2 2008 compared to 40% who felt their state of personal financial situation had improved in Q1 2008 “While it may be premature to anticipate that the worst may be over, in the longer term, despite the financial market volatility, Hong Kong and other Asian economies will remain robust. Inter-regional trade and domestic demand will help drive economic growth in Asia and we expect that markets will remain resilient. We expect Asia to continue to post strong GDP growth between the range of three to nine per cent across the region for 2008, with the Thai economy growing 5%,” commented Mr. Belmans. Another survey finding shows that while 48% of Asian investors (ex-Japan) expected the U.S. economy to worsen in Q2 2008, 45% of Thai investors believed the U.S. economic condition will deteriorate. Thai Investors Adopting a “Wait and See” Approach While Focusing on Asia and Considering Lower Risk Investments The ING Investor Dashboard survey also indicates that Thai investors, along with their Asian counterparts are factoring in the impact of the global economic uncertainty by taking a “wait and see” approach and moving towards lower risk investments. 54% of respondents for Asia (ex-Japan) view lower risk investments as favourable compared to 47% for medium risk investments and 38% for high risk investments 46% of respondents in Thailand view lower and medium risk investments as favourable compared with 42% for high risk investments “We have already advised our clients that the subprime issue has created negative sentiment for investment markets globally including Thailand; therefore, investors are currently looking for low risk investment products such as money market funds, short term fixed income funds and capital protected funds. However, many investors still have positive views concerning agricultural commodities. At the end of March 2008, ING Funds Thailand launched the ING Thai GAME Enhanced Linked Fund that invests in structured notes with total returns linked to three equally weighted asset classes, Gold, Agricultural commodities and Middle East equities. We believe that market volatility will prevail for quite some time and that current market conditions represent solid opportunities for selective buying,” said Maris Tarab, Chief Executive Officer, ING Funds (Thailand) Limited. According to the ING Investor Dashboard survey, Thai and other Asian investors are also currently investing closer to home, with 79% respondents in Asia (ex-Japan), who have invested overseas, having Asian markets in their portfolio. 59% of investors in Asia (ex-Japan and China), who have invested overseas, have included China in their portfolio. The survey also shows that generally Thai investors are optimistic about the government’s policies on investment with 68% of respondents expecting it to be favourable in Q2 2008, compared to just 16% who considered the government’s policies on investment favourable in Q1 2008. Notes to Editors About the ING Investor Dashboard The ING Investor Dashboard survey measures and tracks investor sentiment and behaviour of mass affluent investors each quarter from 13 Asia Pacific markets including China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Each market covered by the survey is assigned an investor sentiment score ranging from 0 (the least optimistic) to 200 (the most optimistic). It is the first quarterly survey in Asia Pacific, which provides a specific industry benchmark for pan-Asia (ex-Japan) investor sentiment. Each quarter, the pan-Asia ING Investor Dashboard sentiment index is also developed as part of the survey. The pan-Asia sentiment index is derived from the median sentiment index scores of 10 of the Asian markets including China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand (excludes Japan, Australia and New Zealand). The ING Investor Dashboard was launched in Asia Pacific following the success of ING's Investor Barometer in Europe. The Investor Barometer is published regularly in the Netherlands and Belgium to gauge the confidence of private investors. It is considered an authoritative measure of the sentiment of private investors and is closely followed by key players in the European financial industry. The Q3 2007 and Q4 2007 surveys were carried out in August 2007 and December 2007, respectively. The Q1 2008 survey was conducted in March 2008 and involved face-to-face or online interviews with a total of 1,308 mass affluent investors across the 13 Asia Pacific markets. The respondents are aged 30 years and above, and have disposable assets or investments of US$100,000 and above, with the exception of Indonesia (disposable assets or investments of US$56,000 and above) and the Philippines (disposable assets of investments of US$100,000 or monthly income of Php250000 and above). The survey is conducted by international and independent research firm TNS. Profile of ING ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, insurance and asset management to over 75 million private, corporate and institutional clients in more than 50 countries. With a diverse workforce of about 125,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand. Profile of TNS TNS is the world’s foremost provider of custom research and analysis, combining in-depth industry sector understanding with world-class expertise in the areas of Retails and Shopper Insights, Stakeholder Management, New Product Development and Brand and Communications. It works in partnership with its clients, meeting their needs for high-quality information, analysis and foresight across a network of over 70 countries. Press enquiries Jumpon Saimala ING Asia Pacific 02-688-7780