简体中文
New York has lost its crown as home to the most ultra-rich people, beaten out by the rising tide of extreme wealth in Asia.
Hong Kong surpassed the Big Apple as
the city with the highest population of people worth at least US$30
million, according to a new report. The former British colony saw its
number of ultra-wealthy increase 31 per cent last year, to about 10,000,
research firm Wealth-X found, higher than the nearly 9,000-strong
population of the US’s largest city.Tokyo came third, while Paris beat out London to take the European crown as Brexit weighed down the UK capital.
The number of ultra-rich worldwide rose 13 per
cent last year, according to Wealth-X, totalling about 256,000 people
with a combined assets of US$31.5 trillion.
Asia saw the fastest growth, driven by mainland
China and Hong Kong, the study’s authors wrote. Reflecting the region’s
rise, its share of the global population of people with at least US$30
million rose to just over one-fourth, up from around 18 per cent a
decade ago.
“Asia-Pacific is forecast to close the
ultra-wealth gap with other regions over the next five years, but is
expected to remain behind Europe, the Middle East and Africa in absolute
terms,” the report’s authors wrote. The number of ultra-wealthy in
Asia-Pacific is expected to rise at a compound rate of 8.3 per cent a
year, they said.
Women accounted for about 35,000 of the ultra-rich last year, a record-high share of nearly 14 per cent, the study found.
While Hong Kong topped the city rankings,
nowhere in mainland China made the top 10, despite the country being
third in the list of nations. That is because China’s wealthy are widely
dispersed, illustrated by the fact it was home to 26 of the 30
fastest-growing cities for the ultra-rich.
“The dynamism of wealth creation across China’s vast landscape is nevertheless staggering,” the authors wrote.
Hong Kong’s rise was also a reflection of
China’s improving fortunes, with its position at the top of the global
list “supported by enhanced trade and investment links with mainland
China,” according to the authors.
The relative struggles of commodity markets was a
factor in the Middle East posting the weakest global growth in both
assets and individuals, rising 4.8 per cent and 4.4 per cent,
respectively.
Every region saw gains, however, thanks to last year’s benign markets, the report’s authors wrote.
“Having experienced a roller-coaster ride the
previous year, economic and financial markets almost without exception
surprised on the upside in 2017,” they said. “On an annual basis, world
real GDP expanded at its fastest pace since 2011.”
Still, the ultra-rich held more of their wealth -
35 per cent - in liquid assets such as cash than anything else, the
study found. Private holdings accounted for about 32 per cent, while
public holdings were 26 per cent. Alternative investments such as real
estate, art and yachts made up 6.6 per cent of total assets.
The UK’s looming departure from the EU factored
into last year’s trends, the study found. Paris’s rise over London - the
City of Lights saw a 17 per cent increase in its ultra-wealthy numbers
to more than 3,900 individuals - was because London was “hampered in
part by Brexit-related uncertainty in UK financial markets and across
the wider economy,” the authors wrote.
