The second worldwide Futurewealth survey, conducted by Scorpio Partnership in conjunction with Standard Chartered Private Bank and SEI Global Wealth Services, found the so-called “Futurewealthy” in Asia and Europe have the highest levels of wealth confidence for 2011, while those in North America “have revised their short-term expectations down, following poor financial performance in 2010”.
However, the levels of confidence among North America’s Futurewealthy now “are actually in line with other markets”, a summary of the study’s findings says.
Some 1,751 high-net-worth individuals took part in the survey, which was conducted online between September and November of last year. Of the respondents, 42% lived in North America, 36% in Asia Pacific, 19% in Europe and 3% elsewhere in the world at the time they were surveyed. Almost a third owned their businesses, while 70% were employed by others. The average wealth of those surveyed was $2m (£1.2m, €1.5m).
The first Futurewealth survey, against which this one is being compared, was released in September 2009.
Joseph Ujobai, executive vice president of SEI, said the company became involved in the Futurewealth project because “it is only by understanding how individual investors ultimately engage with their wealth that we can create solutions for our intermediary clients that are truly smarter, faster – and better”.
Other findings:
• The world’s Futurewealthy believe they can triple their current wealth within ten years, to an average of $6m. This represents a lower expectation than the last Futurewealth survey, when most expected to quadruple their wealth over the coming decade
• Those who are most successful share certain personal qualities, including high energy levels, a focus on innovation, and “the importance of taking responsibility for others on their path to success”
• The fascination of the world’s Futurewealthy with innovation “extends to the individuals and brands they admire as world-beating”, with Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Steve Jobs among the people they say they respect, and Apple (65%) and Google (56%) among the brands they rate.
• Charity is important to the Futurewealthy, with 56% saying they regard charitable giving “as a measure of their success”. More than 40% say they give more than $2,000 a year to good causes
