Emerging markets like India and China would see faster wealth creation in the future, said a report according to which global wealth grew a “remarkable” 11.5 per cent in 2009 to $111.5 trillion.
Global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in its 10th annual Global Wealth report estimated China and India would generate triple the growth of other countries, starting from 2009-end to 2014.
The recovery in wealth, which offset the 10 per cent dip in global assets under management (AUM) in 2008, was driven by resurgent financial markets and increased savings, it said. BCG projected that global wealth would grow at an average annual rate of nearly 6 per cent from 2009 year-end through 2014, much slower than the sharp recovery last year, but still higher than the 4.8 per cent annual growth rate from 2004 year-end through 2009.
“There’s no doubt that wealth will continue to grow faster in emerging markets, fuelled by strong economic growth,” BCG Partner and co-author of the report Tjun Tang said.
Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan, is expected to grow at nearly twice the global rate, raising its share of global wealth from 15 per cent in 2009 to almost 20 per cent in 2014. However, the rebound in wealth did not mean “a return to business as usual,” BCG said, adding client trust and wealth manager performance were still lower than they were before the global economic crisis.
North America posted the largest absolute gain in wealth at $4.6 trillion (15 per cent), but the largest percentage gain, and the second largest in absolute terms, occurred in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), where wealth increased by 22 per cent, or $3.1 trillion.
Europe remained the wealthiest region. Its $37.1 trillion in AUM represented one-third of the world’s wealth. The number of millionaire households across the world rose by about 14 per cent in 2009 to 11.2 million. The US had by far the most millionaire households (4.7 million) followed by Japan, China, the United Kingdom, and Germany.