China's wealth management market will grow to US$2 trillion by 2015 from the current US$335 billion, as people shift from bank savings to additional investment channels amid the country's rising economy, an industry report said.
China is expected to account for 10 percent of the total increase in global personal financial assets by 2015, following the United States as the world's second-biggest wealth management market, Mercer Oliver Wyman said in the report.
China is now the second biggest wealth management market in Asia after Japan.
The country's growing middle class and its increasing number of millionaires have triggered a bigger demand for wealth management.
China's total household financial assets topped US$2.6 trillion, 76 percent of which, or US$1.98 trillion, are bank deposits. Only 13 percent of the assets are managed through funds, insurers and other entities.
Household saving ratio in China stood at about 20 percent, 10 times the US level and 2.5 times the rate in Germany.
"In line with the experience of other developing nations, we expect to see a shift away from cash as China's wealth increases," the consulting firm said. "The shift will drive strong growth in managed assets, in particular mutual funds."
Retail funds are expected to rise from the current US$70 billion to US$1 trillion by 2015, accounting for half of the wealth management market.
In addition, changes to the regulation of investments into and out of China have the potential to radically alter the asset management landscape.
"We believe the Chinese authorities understand the economic importance of changing the regulations over investment inbound and outbound from China," said David Noble, Asia-Pacific head of Mercer Oliver Wyman.
Relaxed outbound investment through the qualified domestic institutional investor mechanism will satisfy the growing hunger of investors for geographic diversification and higher yields, he said.
The Chinese financial services market is expected to account for nine percent of the country's gross domestic product by 2020 from the current five percent, the New York-based financial consultancy said.