Number of High Net Worth Individuals and their wealth hits new highs

MUMBAI: Strong economic and equity market performance created 920,000 new millionaires in 2014, according to Wealth Report 2015 (WWR) by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management. At the same time, High Net Worth Individuals ( HNWIs) grew in both number and wealth to 14.6 million and $56.4 trillion, respectively.

According to the report, majority of the millionaires and their wealth is evenly distributed between North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The number spread in the Asia-Pacific region grew fastest and it has more HNWIs than other regions.

“2014 was the sixth consecutive year of growth for the High Net Worth market, with robust equity returns and economic performance enabling wealth to grow by about seven percent, following double digit growth the year prior,” said George Lewis, group head, RBC Wealth Management and RBC Insurance in a statement. “Asia-Pacific led the growth in wealth this year and just edged out North America as the new leader in High Net Worth population. Looking ahead to the next few years, we expect Europe to be a large driver of HNWI wealth as the region recovers economically.”

According to the study, North America holds the top post for HNWI wealth at $16.2 trillion while Asia-Pacific has $15.8 trillion and Europe’s $13.0 trillion. However, Asia-Pacific saw a wealth growth at 11% compared to North America’s 9% and Europe’s 4.6%. ‘Asia-Pacific is expected to take top spot for HNWI wealth before the end of 2015,’ stated the study.