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Thread: S'pore rich list is longer than Hong Kong's

  1. #1
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    Default S'pore rich list is longer than Hong Kong's

    http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/arch...ger-hong-kongs

    Published June 21, 2012

    S'pore rich list is longer than Hong Kong's

    Implication for wealth management as Asia Pacific now has more affluent people than North America

    By kenneth lim


    [SINGAPORE] There is a changing of guard atop the wealth pole: Singapore now has more rich people than Hong Kong while Asia Pacific has more fat cats than North America.

    In fact, the Asia Pacific region is now home to the world's largest population of high net worth individuals (HNWIs), according to a report by RBC Wealth Management and Capgemini.

    Despite growth in the number of HNWIs, the amount of investable wealth they possessed actually fell in 2011 as global markets came under pressure, according to the report. The drop in overall wealth compounded problems for wealth managers, who continue to suffer from climbing costs.

    A tough year for the stock market and a slowdown in exports led the number of HNWIs - defined as people with at least US$1 million of investable wealth - in Singapore to fall 7.8 per cent to 91,200 in 2011 from 98,900 in 2010.

    But Hong Kong's stock market also had its share of troubles, and the HNWI group there tumbled even more sharply - down 17.4 per cent to 83,600 in 2011. This is the first time since 2008 that Singapore has had more HNWIs than HK.

    "In Hong Kong, stockmarket capitalisation also dropped - by 16.7 per cent in 2011 after a gain of 17.6 per cent in 2010 - as eurozone concerns weighed on the outlook for growth," the report said.

    Strong domestic economies helped to boost the number of HNWIs in Asia Pacific by 1.6 per cent in 2011 to 3.37 million, nudging the region past North America for the first time.

    Barend Janssens, emerging markets head of wealth management at RBC, said he expects Asia to strengthen its hold at the top in terms of population size.

    "We don't think that the economies in Asia will suffer as much as the Western economies, so that's already underpinning an opportunity for better growth," Mr Janssens said.

    Most of the growth came in the US$1 million to US$5 million band, and banks in the region could pick up their high-end consumer banking services to cater to that segment of the market, Mr Janssens said.

    But he expects North America to retain its hold at the top for a bit longer in terms of total wealth.

    "The average investor in North America is quite equity focused, so if you see the market bouncing back in North America, you will quickly see a wealth uptick . . . it's going to take quite a bit longer, depending also on the market, for Asia to overtake in total wealth," Mr Janssens told reporters yesterday.

    But despite the global increase in wealthy individuals, the aggregate wealth of those individuals fell across all regions except the Middle East, where high oil prices propped up asset values.

    Investable wealth slipped 1.1 per cent in Asia to US$10.7 trillion, while in North America wealth fell 2.3 per cent to US$11.4 trillion. Globally, investable wealth of HNWIs fell to US$42 trillion in 2011 from US$42.7 trillion in 2010.

    The drop in investable assets underscored a tough year for wealth management firms, especially in the face of rising costs.

    The cost-to-income ratio has been rising steadily to 79.8 per cent in 2010 from 63.7 per cent in 2007, and is expected to also show an increase in 2011 and 2012, said Capgemini senior account executive Claire Sauvanaud.

    Those costs are climbing because of a host of factors such as legacy business models that are not suitable to current market conditions as well as growing compliance burdens.

    "Many of these challenges are not new individually. What becomes new nowadays is the fact that they are coming altogether at the same time," Ms Sauvanaud said.

    The outlook for the high net worth market remains clouded. "Uncertainty will still be a hallmark of economic and market conditions in the year or so ahead," the report said.

  2. #2
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    me not in the list, for sure..
    I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” - Robert Frost quotes (American poet, 1874-1963)

  3. #3
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    Useless rich list as Singaporeans are mainly middle class and our rich list most of them has investible assets less tha $5 million type which is in reality no big deal based on cost of living in SG. $5 million can't even get a decent home with swimming pool.

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