Chair UGent-Keytrade Bank: The Wealth of the Belgian

INTRODUCTION

The context in which the Chair was created is the need for a better understanding of the wealth composition of the Belgian population. There is a growing need for more detailed and frequent research into the composition of wealth, both financial and non-financial, for the different strata of the population and how it fluctuates from year to year. There is also a need to better understand the link between wealth accumulation and factors such as savings behaviour, consumption behaviour, trading behaviour, investor sentiment, personality traits and commitment to sustainability. The Chair was created to fill these knowledge gaps and contribute to improving Belgians' financial knowledge of how to invest at every stage of their lives.

OBJECTIVES

As part of the Chair, research will be conducted into the accumulation of wealth in the Belgian population and how this fluctuates from year to year. What is innovative about the content of the Chair is that both financial and non-financial assets are part of the research, and this with a high granularity. As regards non-financial assets, in addition to real estate assets, specific attention will be paid to asset components such as cars, art, collectibles, cryptocurrencies, ... Moreover, the study will make the link between the Belgian's asset accumulation and, successively, savings behaviour, consumption behaviour, trading behaviour, investor sentiment, personality traits and commitment to sustainability. Every year, the Chair will also explore current topics relating to Belgian wealth. Recent examples include real estate, cryptocurrencies, Covid-19 and the securities tax. The research will poll Belgians' sentiment on these topics and examine how this affects their behaviour and wealth. The ultimate goal of the research is to gain a better understanding of how the total wealth of Belgians is composed at different stages of life, and to be able to link the composition of wealth to socio-demographic factors, behavioural factors and personality traits.

The Chair will thus help increase the financial knowledge and skills of Belgians and help them make better decisions about their finances and investments throughout their lives.

DONOR

PERIOD

2023-present

PROMOTOR

Prof. Koen Inghelbrecht