Asian UHNWIs amass more wealth than North Americans
Date：2015/03/14
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The population of wealthy individuals in Asia ballooned in 2014, outpacing those in other parts of the world across all wealth categories, according to Knight Frank’s latest report.
Specifically, High Net-Worth Individuals (HNWI) in the region increased by 3.3 percent to 5,094,277, Ultra High Net-Worth Individual (UHNWI) rose 3.5 percent to 42,272, centa-millionaires grew 4.0 percent to 9,094, while the number of billionaires in the region climbed 4.2 percent to 492.
Last year, Asia overtook North America as the region with the second-largest gain in UHNWIs, as 1,419 people joined this league compared to just 1,000 in 2013. But it was Europe which saw the biggest population gain of 1,834 in this segment last year.
In terms of total net worth, ultra-wealthy Asians collectively hold US$5.9 trillion (RM21.81 trillion), exceeding North America’s US$5.5 trillion (RM20.33 trillion), but still shy of European UHNWIs’ US$6.4 trillion (RM23.65 trillion).
Moving forward, the global population of UHNWIs is projected to surge by 34 percent to nearly 231,000 by 2024, and 10 percent of those who will become ultra wealthy are expected to come from just five cities — Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, London and Mumbai.
Over the next decade, Singapore is projected to have the greatest number of additional UHNWIs at 1,752, followed by Hong Kong (1,251) and New York (1,013). Completing the top five are London (907) and Mumbai (871).
To be considered as a HNWI, UHNWI and Centa-millionaire and Billionaire, a person must have a net worth of at least US$1 million (RM3.7 million), US$30 million (RM110.88 million) and US$100 million (RM369.6 million) and US$1 billion (RM3.7 billion) respectively.