Foreign professionals living in Russia and the Middle East are financially the most well off, while expatriates in Europe are benefiting the least from having moved abroad to work, a survey by HSBC Holdings Plc showed. Russia topped a list of 25 countries of the best places for expats to live in terms of personal finances, followed by Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, HSBC said on Wednesday in a survey of 4,127 people who don't live in their home nation. European countries made up the bottom six nations of the survey. “It is clear that the economic volatility that has plagued the UK and euro zone has had a significant effect on expat finances since 2009,” Lisa Wood, head of Customer Propositions at HSBC Bank International, which commissioned the survey, said in a statement. “Not surprisingly, a number of expats in these economies are actively looking to return home.” The third annual report commissioned by HSBC found finances among expats were generally positive with two-thirds, or 66 percent, saying they have more disposable income to save and invest since moving abroad.
