North America reclaimed the top spot with the most millionaires last year, beating Asia as the world's ultra-rich pushed global wealth to a record high, according to a report by Cap Gemini SA and Royal Bank of Canada.
People in North America with at least $1 million in investable assets climbed 11.5 per cent to 3.73 million in 2012, according to the 17th annual World Wealth Report. High-net-worth individuals in the Asia-Pacific region, which overtook North America a year earlier, increased 9.4 per cent to 3.68 million, boosted by Singapore and Hong Kong.
The combined wealth of the world's millionaires rose 10 per cent to a record $46.2 trillion last year, after declining 1.7 per cent in 2011. North America remained the richest region with $12.7 trillion of high-net-worth assets, compared with $12 trillion in Asia-Pacific where the wealthy are expected to retake the top spot in "the very near future" and lead growth over the next three years, according to the study. (MAPPING THE MILLIONAIRES)
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"Both the US and Canada benefited from marginal GDP growth as well as equity and real estate markets," Jean Lassignardie, chief sales and marketing officer for Paris-based Capgemini Global Financial Services, said at a press conference in New York yesterday when the report was released. Still, Asia-Pacific's total wealth increased 12.2 per cent, outpacing North America's 11.7 per cent growth, he said.
The increase in wealth was led by the super-rich, those with at least $30 million to invest, whose assets and numbers rose by about 11 per cent following declines in 2011, the report said.
The MSCI World Index, which tracks global stocks in developed and emerging markets, climbed 13 per cent in 2012 and has advanced 11 per cent this year. The MSCI AC Asia Pacific Index jumped 14 per cent last year and is up 2.8 per cent in 2013.
All regions had strong gains in high-net-worth populations and wealth except Latin America, which faltered amid slow economic growth and "challenged" equity markets, according to the report. The population of millionaires worldwide rose 9.2 per cent to 12 million, the report showed.
In Europe, the high-net-worth population increased 7.5 per cent to 3.41 million and their wealth climbed 8.2 per cent to $10.9 trillion, the study found.
In Asia, Hong Kong's number of high-net-worth individuals climbed 36 per cent to 114,000 people with wealth of $489 billion.
