``People in Hong Kong appear to be deeply suspicious of financial advisers,'' said Anil Gaba a professor of decision sciences at INSEAD, a business school, which has campuses in Singapore and Fontainebleau in France.

Gaba, who conducted the study, said Hong Kong is different from Singapore and Taiwan as investors here are just as regretful of the moves they did not make as they were of the loss-making moves they made.

``The omission regret from missing an opportunity is quite palpable,'' Citibank's regional director of investments business for Asia Pacific Vineet Vohra said.

He said it was a sharp difference from the United States, where investors tend be more regretful of bad decisions than of missed opportunities.

The study also found Singapore to have the most overconfident investors. Gaba said they were more likely to sell rising stocks too early and to hold onto losing stocks too long.

Gaba said the high level of overconfidence in Singapore might be chalked up to the country's lack of political turmoil.

``Singaporeans, in general, have been less exposed to uncertainty. They have been living in a more stable environment than Taiwan and Hong Kong,'' Gaba said.

Vohra said emotions and irrational behavior play a important role in investment decisions.

neel.garlapati@singtaonewscorp.com