Mumbai: China and India maintained their leadership in propelling the growth of high net worth individuals (HNWIs) in the Asia-Pacific region despite the economic slowdown in both countries.
China and India represent nearly 10 per cent of global HNWI wealth, and account for 17 per cent of the global increase in new wealth since 2006, adding $3.2 trillion during that time.
In 2014 alone, China saw its HNWI population grow by 17.5 per cent to 8,90,000, while the HNWI wealth rose 19.3 per cent to $4.5 trillion. India recorded the largest percentage point gains in the region and globally, with its HNWI population rising 26.3 per cent to 1,98,000 and wealth by 28.2 per cent to $785 billion.
The Asia-Pacific Wealth Report 2015, published on Thursday by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management said that the Asia-Pacific region saw its HNWI population grow 8.5 per cent in 2014 to 4.7 million people — one million more than just two years ago — while wealth increased 11.4 per cent to $15.8 trillion, leading all regions globally.
The region has already surpassed North America with the largest HNWI population of 4.69 million compared to North America’s 4.68 million, according to the recent World Wealth Report 2015, and is expected to overtake North America’s leading $16.2 trillion in HNWI wealth by the end of the year.
Barend Janssens, head, RBC Wealth Management, Asia said, “Asia-Pacific continues its tremendous run in wealth creation and doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon,” adding, “despite some recent economic issues, the region’s wealth is expected to lead global growth and with this, will provide tremendous opportunities for the wealth management firms that are well positioned to meet the increasingly complex needs of HNWIs in Asia-Pacific.”
The report predicts that Asia-Pacific will continue its expansion of HNWI in the future too with much of the new wealth expected to come from the emerging economies of China, India, Indonesia, and Thailand. “China and India, in particular, have propelled Asia-Pacific HNWI wealth growth in recent years and are expected to continue to act as key drivers, both in the region and globally,” says the report.
Among the other Asia-Pacific countries HNWI wealth in Mature Asia, which includes Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, and South Korea, grew by 7.0 per cent in 2014, and is expected to grow at a rate of 8.9 per cent through 2017 to reach $12 trillion in wealth.
An interesting fact emerging from the report is that credit was an important boost for the growth of Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) HNWIs with more than one-quarter (25.5 per cent) of their assets financed through credit, versus only 18.2 per cent for HNWIs in the rest of the world.
