Private equity investors in Asia regard China as the market of choice followed by India, a survey by management consulting firm KPMG said Monday.

According to this year’s survey of 119 private equity firms, 61 per cent of the respondents said they have assets in China while 37 per cent had assets in India.

Australia and Singapore were third with 29 per cent followed by Taiwan with 28 per cent and Japan with 21 per cent.

Malaysia, New Zealand and Thailand each attracted 18 per cent. The least penetrated markets were Indonesia, picked by 14 per cent, Vietnam, 10 per cent and the Philippines, eight per cent.

Looking ahead, China is still the prime market. Some 74 per cent of private equity investors expect to have assets in the country five years from now.

India becomes even more popular with 63 per cent of the respondents who said they would have assets in the country during the extended time frame.

Growing wealth and personal disposal income of the middle class “has elevated interest in personal consumption in markets like China and India,” said KPMG Private Equity Group Head Diana Koh.

Key factor

Consumer markets are likely to overtake financial services and telecommunications over the years, the findings said. Environmental technologies, health care, telecommunications, media and technologies are also expected to dominate.

Asia’s economic growth, particularly that of China and India, was mentioned as the key factor driving interest in the region.