The majority of wealthy investors rely on their own expertise over the advice of wealth managers, according to a new survey, which will come as a fresh blow to an industry still reeling from massive outflows of client money. Real estate group Knight Frank and US-based Citi Private Bank asked high-net-worth respondents to their 2010 Wealth Report to rank their preferred source of advice before considering an investment. Respondents ranked their own expertise as the most important source of information and also put that of their peers ahead of advice provided by their private bank or independent wealth adviser. Newspapers and the Internet were the least popular sources of information, according to the survey. The findings of the report come at a time when wealthy investors, unhappy with the performance of their managers during the crisis in 2008, look to re-allocate assets, and advisers step up their efforts to retain clients. Swiss bank UBS, which boasted one of the biggest wealth management businesses, lost more than $100bn (€74bn) in client funds between 2007 and 2009.  Respondents to the survey were bearish about growth prospects of their personal wealth in 2010. Although only a small proportion of 4% believed it would decrease, 72% believed it would increase slightly. Only 5% thought it would increase significantly.  Tangible assets are considered the most popular investments, with property in particular accounting for one third of the portfolios of respondents. The wealthy believe now is a good time to buy – 13% of respondents said they planned to purchase a new primary residence, while 37% said they would look to acquire a new secondary residence.  Michael McPartland, managing director and head of residential real estate at Citi Private Bank, said: “Buying becomes opportunistic in a downturn, particularly as people turn to assets such as property when other assets experience dislocation.” Manhattan luxury real estate benefits by independent thinking wealthy buyers for sure.