Only 6.3 per cent of Japanese investors have what Cerulli called “active/aggressive” risk profiles. The findings were based on a survey of 300 Japanese investors for the firm’s Asia Wealth Management 2016 report. It also found that 43.7 per cent of respondents had conservative/stable risk profiles and 50 per cent had balanced/growth profiles.

Cerulli said this is the first time that Japanese retail investors are included in the survey, which also covers respondents from China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and India.

One of the more surprising, and potentially alarming, findings is that despite Japan's ageing population, investors in higher wealth tiers are still generally not preparing for wealth distribution, or passing on their wealth to the next generation, with only about 10 per cent of respondents naming this as their financial goal. The main financial goal cited was wealth preservation, by 53.7 per cent of respondents.

Japanese investors generally like to keep a tight hold on investment decisions rather than to delegate out to a discretionary manager. Among the three main financial centres in the region, Japan has the highest proportion of self-directed investors, at 79.3 per cent, compared to Hong Kong (71.0 per cent) and Singapore (68.3 per cent).

An “overwhelming majority” of Japanese investors, the report said, have no financial advisor, or only one financial advisor. Investors also seem ambivalent about the value received from their financial advisors, with almost 60 per cent sitting on the fence when asked whether the value they received from their advisors is worth the expense.

Japan is famous for its adoption of robotics in manufacturing and the survey found that respondents are relaxed about the trend for automated investment decision-making, or “robo-advisors”. About 40 per cent of survey respondents said they did not need human contact for financial advice, compared to only 3.7 per cent of Chinese investors and 6.0 per cent of Indian investors.