Australians aged between 20 and 40 are the hungriest for consumer and business risks in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a new survey by Swiss Re.

However, it has also emerged that young Australian small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders are less willing than some of their Asian counterparts to borrow money for growth, and fewer view the current financial crisis as a growth opportunity.

Swiss Re’s risk appetite survey was conducted in the first quarter of this year, covering Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.

Australians were found to be the biggest risk-takers overall when it comes to careers and finance. Only 33% have a clear plan to ensure they are financially secure when they stop working, while 50% would give up the security of working for an established employer to join a small company if that meant better pay and faster growth prospects.

Young Australian SME leaders are the most willing, at 32%, to develop new products, services and business lines, while they are at the same time the least willing to borrow money to fuel rapid growth, with 39% rejecting that option.

This compares with 70% of the Chinese SME leaders who showed a strong preference for financial leverage.

While all the markets surveyed by Swiss Re showed a consistently low tolerance for taking operational risks, Australian SMEs put less emphasis than most on information security, plants and property, and sustainability.
 
But staff retention is a high priority for SMEs in Australia, with 90% of leaders making every effort to stay competitive by retaining key staff.