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Number of rich individuals drops in all regions, though Middle East
bucks the trend
A wealth report published by
Capgemini SA and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) says that India saw an 18% fall in its
rich population followed by Hong Kong which saw a decline of 17.4% in its
millionaire count.
A weak currency market and
fall in stock markets over the past few years has resulted in the fall of HNIs by
27,500 in 2011 to 125,500 in India. The fall has occurred twice in four years
and wealth creation prospects remain dim in 2012, says the report.
“Indian equity-market
capitalization dropped 33.4% in 2011, after a gain of 24.9% in 2010. That
decline, and domestic factors such as increasing budget/fiscal deficit,
contributed to a significant drop in India’s HNI population,” explains the
report.
The world's population of
millionaires grew by 0.8% to a record 11 million, yet their collective wealth
fell by 1.7% to $42 trillion. Except the Middle East, all regions reported
decline in wealth. It was the first global drop in millionaire wealth since the
2008 financial crisis, when the ranks of the wealthy fell by 15% and their
wealth contracted by 20%.
TheUS remains the wealthiest
country with 3,067,700 rich individuals who have immovable assets of $1 million (aroundRs
5.6 crore) or more, excluding primary residence, collectibles, consumables and
consumer durables. America is followed by Germany with 951,200 millionaires. Japan, the US and Germany together account for 53.3%
of the world’s HNIs in 2011 compared to 53.1% in 2010.
“In terms of assets, HNIs’
investable wealth totaled $11.4 trillion in North America, down 2.3% from 2010;
$10.7 trillion in Asia-Pacific, down 1.1%; $10.1 trillion in Europe, down 1.1%;
and a 2.9% decline in Latin America,” says the report.
The overall decline in
wealth was majorly due to disproportionate investment—higher investment in risky
assets like hedge funds, private equity and real estate and lower in liquid assets.
Diamonds continue to be a strong investment with prices increasing 20% over the
previous year.
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