About 44 per cent of the Indian expatriates living in the UAE depend on family members for their financial planning instead of seeking professional advice, said a survey conducted by Standard Life, a leading savings and investments company.

The report revealed that 21 per cent relied on NRI financial advisers, 18 per cent trusted their bank and 10 per cent turned to non-NRI financial advisors.

Standard Life conducted the survey to study the saving, spending and investment behaviour along with general aspirations of nearly 300 NRIs across the UAE.

Commenting on the results, CEO Chris Divito said: “It is really interesting to see that many NRIs trust family members instead of professionals when seeking expert advice for financial planning."

"It would be encouraging to see professional financial advisers engaging more actively and building trust with the NRI community who are a significant part of the UAE society," he stated.

The study also indicated that there is a home bias when it comes to financial products, with 64 per cent of respondents preferring to buy products from Indian companies.

With regard to the spending behaviour of NRIs, the survey found that the top five expenses for the expats were children’s education, rent, miscellaneous household bills, holidays/travelling and health related expenses. - TradeArabia News Service