The report, conducted this year for the first time in association with RBC Wealth Management, found the world’s wealthy had not been unscathed by last year’s economic and uncertainty and volatile markets, a period described by the report’s authors as the “second most volatile in the past 15 years”.
For although the global high net worth population increased slightly (0.8% to 11 million) in 2011, their total investable wealth declined. And the only region in which the overall financial wealth of high net worth individuals (HNWI) did not fall last year was the Middle East, the report notes.
In total, the world’s HNWIs saw their wealth decline by 1.7%, the first decline since the 2008 world economic crisis, when the fall was far steeper, at 19.5%.
Of the top twelve countries by population covered in the report, Brazil saw the greatest percentage rise in the number of HNWIs in 2011 (6.2%). The UK, meanwhile, saw its total number of HNWIs fell by 2.9%, to 441,300.
Other countries that saw their millionaire populations decline in 2011 included Hong Kong (down 17.4%) and India (18%), the Capgemini/RBC Wealth Management report data shows.
While it is significant that for the first time there are now more high net worth individuals in Asia-Pacific than in any other region, "losses in key markets such as Hong Kong and India meant that wealth contracted in Asia-Pacific overall, " noted George Lewis, group head of RBC wealth management, in a statement accompanying the release of the report.
Asia-Pacific on a roll
Asia’s arrival at the top of the global wealth league table in terms of numbers of HNWI follows a trend by that region to topple other regions from their perches atop existing rankings. In 2010, for example, the Asia-Pacific region posted the strongest regional rate of HNWI population growth among the top three markets, surpassed Europe in terms of its HNWI population for the first time, as its HNWI ranks expanding by 9.7% to 3.3 million individuals, compared to Europe, where the number of HNWIs grew just 6.3% to 3.1 million, according to the 2011 World Wealth Report.
For the purposes of the Capgemini/RBC Wealth Management report, HNWIs are defined as those having investable assets of $1m or more, excluding their primary residence, collectibles, consumables and consumer durables.The research also covers trends in the ultra-HNWI space, which is defined as those having investable assets of $30m or more.
To read about the report and download press releases from the Capgemini site, click here. To download the report, click here.
Below: trends in HNWI populations around the world in 2011
(Source: World Wealth Report 2012, Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management)
