THE WORLD’S wealthiest people were richer last year than before the 2008 banking crisis. There were also more of them in 2010 – 10.9 million – than before the recession struck.
The latest annual world wealth report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini indicates the wealth of high net worth individuals around the world reached $42.7 trillion (€29.6 trillion) in 2010, rising by 9.7 per cent and surpassing the peak of $40.7 trillion reached in 2007.
The report also measures a category of ultra-high net worth individuals – essentially those with $30 million to invest. This class of wealthy people rose by 10 per cent to 103,000, while the value of their investments jumped by 11.5 per cent. The performance of investments made by wealthy individuals in shares and commodities helped drive their wealth, which in turn fuelled “passion” purchases of luxuries such as Ferraris, diamonds, Chinese art and fine wines, particularly by the growing number of wealthy individuals in the emerging markets.
North America is home to the highest number of rich people – 3.4 million – but for the first time the Asia Pacific region, with 3.3 million high net worth individuals, has the second largest number, overtaking Europe.
Europeans’ wealth rose 7.2 per cent to $10.2 trillion while Asia Pacific gained 12.1 per cent to $10.8 trillion. The wealth of the richest people in the Asia Pacific region is up 14.1 per cent since 2007, although individuals in North America and Europe have yet to recoup the losses they suffered during the banking crisis.
Adam Horowitz, head of UK, Ireland and Israel at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, said the overall improvement in wealth in 2010 was because of the rise in the value of investments. “Global capital markets and major asset classes performed well over the year on the back of rising investor risk appetite,” he said.
The number of rich people in the US grew by 8.3 per cent, in Germany by 7.2 per cent and 3.4 per cent in France. – ( Guardianservice)