More than three-quarters of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) believe their engagement with digital technology and the internet has played a role in their wealth creation, new research suggests.
Scorpio Partnership’s report, Digital World of the Futurewealthy, explored the way HNWIs engage with new technologies and how they spend their time online.
It showed that this figure rose to 92% among those with more than $4m when asked about the importance of the internet in five years time.
The internet is also seen as a commercial opportunity pool. More than two-thirds (68%) of those with more than $4m saw their wealth rise last year and 79% think they will make even more in 2013.

 

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UHNWIs vocal advocates of all things digital

HNWIs with wealth of more than $4m are at the front of the pack when it comes to digital technologies, understanding the value of innovation.
They are doing more online, more regularly and are the most vocal advocates of the internet as wealth creation tool. More than 75% of this group said that "communication" were the web’s best features when it came to financial success, "buying and selling" was the second highest activity.
HNWIs were also found to engage more in high-powered online activities – creating content, sparking dialogue, finding information and sharing personal media – spending 13% less time reading and researching than those with under $500,000.
The richest individuals with over $4m have an average of 4 devices and spend more than 48 hours per week online. They also spend more time and money online, with their average big ticket spent being a whopping $15,400, compared to $5,706 for those owning under $4m.
HNWIs spend 2.9 hours of personal time and a further 3 hours every working day online.

 

Asian HNWI more optimistic than those from the Americas

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Regional differences were highlighted, as 88% of Asia’s HNWIs believe the internet will be a big factor in their future success, compared to just 64% from the Americas.
Asia’s HNWIs were the most engaged with the future possibilities, being almost 20% more optimistic than those from the Americas or Europe about the commercial opportunities on the internet.
When asked about wealth creation, the 3,477 HNWIs surveyed said the possibilities for making money not only lay in the communication revolution, but almost equally in networking and collaboration opportunities, as well as new ways to approach business and commerce.

 

Social media connections

With an average wealth worth around USD1.9m, respondents are well-connected, with 71% saying Facebook is their number one social media site, while 31% prefer LinkedIn and 29% list Twitter as their top site.
Most popular apps for HNWIs were news at 57%, before social networking at 55%, while banking /finance apps came 7th with 49% after maps, music, weather and games.