Singapore has overtaken Hong Kong in terms of its population of high net worth individuals for the first time since 2009, according to the Capgemini-Royal Bank of Canada World Wealth Report.
High net worth individuals are defined as those with more than US$1 million worth of investable assets.
According to the Capgemini-Royal Bank of Canada World Wealth Report, Singapore has 91,200 high net worth individuals in 2011, compared to 83,600 for Hong Kong.
However, both regions saw a dip in their wealthy populations. Singapore saw an 8 per cent drop while Hong Kong had a whopping 17 per cent fall in their numbers of high net worth individuals.
The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) says this is in part due to the market volatility last year, which wiped out billions from the stock markets.
Despite this, the Asia Pacific remains the region with the most high net worth individuals, overtaking North America for the first time. Asia Pacific had surpassed Europe back in 2010.
China remains the country with the most high net worth individuals in Asia Pacific, with a population of 562,000 such individuals.
The top five countries by population of high net worth individuals are the US (3.07 million), Japan (1.82 million), Germany (951,000), China and the UK (441,000).
RBC says the high concentration of high net worth individuals is the reason why the region holds much allure for wealth managers, who will also have to contend with competition from domestic banks.
That is why RBC, the sixth largest wealth manager in the world, says it is only going after those with more than US$5 million in investable assets.
Barend Janssens, head of emerging markets at RBC Wealth Management, said: “The wealth bands which are below US$5 million are moving into what is the preferred or priority services of banks which have a sizeable consumer network.
“It’s concentrated on the high end of consumer services, instead of the low end of wealth management.”
Source : CNA – 2012 Jun 21
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