Asia-Pacific has surpassed Europe in terms of
the number of high net worth individuals (HNWIs), according to a
world wealth report released by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth
Management and Capgemini.
The number of HNWIs in Asia-Pacific totaled
3.3 million in 2010, a rise of 9.7 percent compared to 2009.
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In comparison, the number of HNWIs in Europe
was 3.1 million in 2010, a year-on-year increase of 6.3
percent.
Asia-Pacific’s HNWIs’ wealth stood at $10.8
trn in 2010 – 12.1 percent higher than 2009. Europe’s HNWIs’ wealth
totaled $10.2 trn in 2010, a year-on-year rise of 7.2 percent.
The figures are highly significant for banks
and wealth managers because they show that Asia-Pacific is now the
second largest region for both HNWIs’ wealth and population, second
only to North America.
Michael Benz, head of Asia-Pacific wealth
management at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management said:
“Asia-Pacific’s continued strong performance cements the region’s
strategic importance to every wealth management firm with global
aspirations.”
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By GlobalDataSeveral markets in Asia-Pacific including
Singapore, India and Vietnam had high HNWIs’population growth both
in 2009 and 2010. In 2010, Hong Kong’s HNWI population grew
the most at 33.3 percent to 101,300 compared with 76,000 in
2009.
Arun Kumar Akula, sales director for
Asia-Pacific at Capgemini Financial Services said: “The risk
appetite of investors in Hong Kong is much hungrier than the rest
of the world.”
The publication of the 15th
annual World Wealth Report report comes as the Global Private
Banking and Wealth Management Survey 2011 released by
PricewaterhouseCoopers has sparked industry debate because
respondents to the 2011 PwC survey said they believe Singapore will
overtake Switzerland to be the most successful international
financial centre by 2013 given increased regulatory pressures on
offshore centres.
Commenting on the PwC 2011 survey, Renato de
Guzman, CEO of Bank of Singapore, which is a subsidiary of OCBC
Bank, was skeptical and said: “I do not know if Singapore
will be able to overtake Switzerland in two years.”
He made the comment in a media briefing at the
launch of the new Bank of Singapore Centre in Singapore. During the
briefing, Guzman said Bank of Singapore will continue to focus on
entrenching its footprint in Asia, and particularly in markets
including the Greater China region, the Philippines and
Singapore.
For China, Bank of Singapore plans to grow its
share of business in the region through branding, strategic
recruitment and leveraging OCBC China’s network of 14 main and
sub-branches in the eight key cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu,
Chongqing, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Tianjin and Xiamen.
Bank of Singapore is in the process of setting
up a private banking operation within OCBC China, which is expected
to be launched by the end of the third quarter this year, subject
to regulatory approval.
