Asia Pacific has more HNIs than North America: Capgemini

MUMBAI: High net worth individuals (HNWI) in Asia Pacific have overtaken their counterparts in North America both in terms of wealth as well as population driven by growth in wealth in Japan and China, a report by consulting and technology firm Capgemini said on Thursday.

HNWI wealth in Asia-Pacific grew at 10% in Asia in 2015, more than double the 4% growth seen in global wealth, Capgemini said in the 20th edition of its World Wealth Report (WWR). Wealth in Asia-Pacific increased to $17.4 trillion higher than North America’s $16.6 trillion. HNWIs in Asia Pacific at 5.1 million were also higher than the 4.8 million in North America.

Growth in wealth from Asia-Pacific has also been five times that of North America. Asia-Pacific’s wealth has grown by 10%, five times the 2% growth seen from North America in 2015. While growth from Asia Pacific has accelerated, North America’s growth has fallen from a 9% growth in 2014.

“Using a more aggressive growth projection, if markets in Asia-Pacific continue to grow at its 2006 to 2015 rate, Asia-Pacific will represent two-fifths of the world’s HNWI wealth in ten years, more than that of Europe, Latin America, and Middle East and Africa combined. Japan and China stand out as regional dynamos, driving almost 60% of global HNWI population growth in 2015,” Capgemini said.

Latin America was hit by the poor performance from Brazil, which lost momentum in both HNWI population (down 8%) and wealth (down 6%), which impacted the growth of wealth globally.

“Global HNWI wealth reached $58.7 trillion and the HNWI population grew at 4.9% to be 15.4 million in 2015,”Capgemini said. The consulting agency projects wealth to increase to $100 trillion in 2025 up from $59 trillion in 2015. Since 1996, HNWI wealth has grown by four times.

Capgemini estimates that only one-third (32%) of global HNWI wealth is currently being managed by individual wealth managers, representing a challenge and an opportunity for firms to consolidate assets.

The report was collated based on the responses from over 5,200 HNWIs across 23 major wealth markets in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa.