The world’s high net worth individuals (HNWIs—those with $1 million or more in investable assets—expanded in numbers and in total wealth in 2010, surpassing 2007 pre-crisis levels in nearly every region, according to the 15th annual World Wealth Report, released today by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Capgemini.
Global HNWI population and wealth growth reached more stable levels in 2010, with the population of HNWIs increasing 8.3% to 10.9 million and HNWI financial wealth growing 9.7% to reach US$42.7 trillion (compared with 17.1% and 18.9% respectively in 2009).
The global population of Ultra-HNWIs (those with $30 million or more in investable assets) grew by 10.2% in 2010 and its wealth by 11.5%.
The global HNWI population remained highly concentrated in the U.S., Japan and Germany, which together accounted for 53.0% of the world’s HNWIs. The U.S. is still home to the single largest HNW segment in the world, with its 3.1 million HNWIs accounting for 28.6% of the global HNWI population.
In an environment of relatively stable but uneven recovery, equities and commodities markets, as well as real estate (specifically in Asia-Pacific), performed solidly throughout 2010.
By the end of 2010, HNWIs held 33% of all their investments in equities, up from 29% a year earlier. Allocations to cash/deposits dropped to 14% in 2010 from 17% in 2009 and the share held in fixed-income investments dipped to 29% from 31%. Among alternative investments, many HNWIs favored commodities. Commodity investments accounted for 22% of all alternative investments in 2010, up from 16% in 2009.
The global population of Ultra-HNWIs grew 10.2% to 103k in 2010, and their wealth jumped by 11.5%, after surging 21.5% in 2009. A disproportionate amount of wealth remains concentrated in the hands of Ultra-HNWIs. At the end of 2010, Ultra-HNWIs represented only 0.9% of the global HNWI population, but accounted for 36.1% of global HNWI wealth. That was up slightly from 35.5% in 2009.
North America still has the largest regional number of Ultra-HNWIs. At the end of 2010, the number of Ultra-HNWIs there totaled 40,000, up from 36,000 in 2009 (but remains down from 41,000 in 2007). Regionally, Latin America still has the highest percentage of Ultra-HNWIs relative to the overall HNWI population—2.4%, compared with the global average of 0.9%.
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