RBC and Capgemini have released a report (Asia Pacific Wealth Report 2015) citing the growth in Asia-Pacific’s HNWI population by 8.5% in 2014 to 4.7 million people – one million more than two years ago – while wealth levels increased 11.4% to $15.8 tr.
The latest findings suggest that Asia-Pacific has already surpassed North America with the largest HNWI population (4.69 million versus 4.68 million). The report also forecasts that HNWI wealth is expected to overtake North America’s leading figure of $16.2 tr by the end of the year.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
The latest RBC and Capgemini report examines 11 countries in the region – Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand – and features the findings of a survey of 1,600 Asia-Pacific HNWIs
The most significant wealth markets were China and India, representing nearly 10% of global HNWI wealth, and accounting for 17% of the global increase in new wealth since 2006, adding $3.2 tr during that time. The report indicates that India’s wealthy population received the greatest percentage point gain in 2014, rising by 26.3% to 198,000 with wealth levels increasing by 28.2% to $785bn. China’s HNWI population grew by 17.5% to 890,000 and wealth rose 19.3% to $4.5tr.
However, growth in wealth levels was less significant in Singapore where HNWI population and wealth grew at low rates of 2.2% and 3.9% respectively, during 2014. Growth in Hong Kong was stronger with HNWI population and wealth at rates of 11.2% and 13.1%, respectively.
UHNWI in the Asia-Pacific region (individuals who had more than £30m in investable assets) accounted for less than 1% of the region’s millionaires in 2014, but generated over one quarter of the wealth.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalDataThe report also delves into the asset allocations of wealthy individuals in the region. The findings indicate that cash played a prominent role in HNWI portfolios (excl. Japan) at 23.1%. This was followed closely by equities (22.8%) and real estate (21.4%).
The report also found that credit is important to Asia-Pacific (excl. Japan) HNWIs, with 25.5% of assets financed through credit, versus only 18.2% for HNWIs in the rest of the world. The findings suggest that HNWIs in the APAC region place high importance (58.7%) on a firm’s ability to provide credit when choosing to initiate a wealth management relationship versus those in the rest of the world (34.9%).
