The first quarter of 2014 has already seen a record number of female billionaires, according to PBI’s sister company WealthInsight. In fact, women billionaires showed the highest rise of 25% and also the highest amount (172) ever recorded compared to the same period in previous years.
Although wealthy women normally gain the billionaire status through inheriting, WealthInsight found that, in Asia, women are far more likely to become billionaires through entrepreneurship.
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There is, indeed, an ever-growing trend of self-made female billionaires in the region, an indicative aspect revealing a higher confidence from Asian women in investing and pursuing their dreams.
Specifically, Hong Kong and China are the two main countries where entrepreneurship is booming, with this type of wealth comprising 54.5% and 66.7% of female billionaires in these countries respectively. As of investment class, real estate is the main way of accumulating fortune for the richest Asian women.
Unsurprisingly, in 2014, the world’s youngest female billionaires come from Hong Kong, with the only 24-year old Perenna Kei, whose wealth is estimated at $1.3 billion.
"Whether wealth is due to the accumulated efforts of successive generations or newly created by individual entrepreneurial flair, I would anticipate that more young female billionaires emerge from Asia, the Middle East and the developing countries over the course of the next few years," says Carolyn Gelling, head of Collective Investment Funds at Thomas Miller Investment Isle of Man.
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By GlobalDataShe adds:"A continued progress in the provision of education, coupled with a greater desire for gender equality and diversity and encouragement for entrepreneurship, are factors contributing to opportunity for entrepreneurs, businesswomen and family successors to strive and thus break through the metaphoric ‘glass ceiling’."
According to Tom Carlisle, analyst at WealthInsight, the reason for Asia’s rising female billionaires’ rates may be the high level of growth in these countries compared to the West, over the past ten years.
He explains: "The reason could also be the standard of living between the developed countries of the US and UK, compared to the developing economies of China and Hong Kong, creating more opportunities for women to become entrepreneurs in thriving sectors such as real estate and manufacturing."
However, as many would expect, the US comes first in the charts holding 34.5% of the overall female billionaires in the world. North America dominates the female billionaire world, showing over one in three women billionaires are based in the US and Canada. The US also has the highest ranked billionaire, with Christy Walton taking the spot from Liliane Bettencourt of France. Her wealth was recorded at US$36.7 billion in 2014.
But the woman who made the recent headlines was indeed Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, who entered the billionaires club for the first time this year.
"What is quite amazing is that Sheryl Sandberg became a billionaire through being part of someone else’s company, which is less common. Often billionaires become rich from starting their own companies. However, Sheryl very much goes against the grain and that’s why people admire her and her efforts", says Carlisle.
The US case
Women in the US enjoy more successful careers than ever, and oversee approximately 60% of the nation’s wealth. As a vast amount of female wealth is expected to pour into the purses of Americans in the coming years, the need of an adequate wealth management service for the upcoming billionaires is now indispensable. However, recent reports warned of a severe shortage of female financial advisors in the country.
There has been a demographic incongruity as the overall US population is 51% female, and yet the percentage of financial advisors who are women, hovers around 30%. Moreover, this percentage has barely moved over the past ten years.
Among the various focuses the wealth management industry must look worldwide, Pwc warned in its 2013 20th Anniversary Global Wealth Management Survey that wealth managers should pay much more attention to the female clientele.
According to Petrina Dolby, senior advisor of PwC’s Canadian Wealth Management Consulting practice, women continue to be an increasingly important, empowered and wealthy client demographic but again, this growing segment does not feel empowered in the wealth management space. Only 8% of PwC’s survey respondents consider gender when segmenting their client base.
"Wealth managers need to better understand the different networks of influence which younger generations and female clients rely on for decision making, including that access to the matriarchal side of the family can provide great connections to the next generation," Dolby says.
"The needs of female billionaires are greatly focussed upon receiving a high quality, personalised and tailored service, which delivers investment performance and also the management of risk. The ability to work efficiently with other specialists and advisers is essential and thus to provide a truly bespoke solution that meets with the individual’s needs and requirements," adds Gelling.
Über- wealthy women rising globally
Other countries seem to have also achieved a solid number of female billionaires, as WealthInsight reports. Right after the US there is Germany with 16 billionaires, and the re-emerging Brazil, coming third with 14 billionaires in total. According to WealthInsight, other female billionaires were found in Macau, Angola and Kazakhstan.
Entering the female billionaires’ ranking is also Nigeria, which has recently seen an impressive number of women developing their own businesses. According to First Bank of Nigeria, this number is projected to grow in the next five to ten years. The female population is also emerging as a ‘viable group for the private banking industry,’ says Bernadine Okeke, global head of private banking, First Bank of Nigeria.
She adds: "It’s not just a man’s world anymore. We’re finding many women are beginning to ask about the private banking space and putting their money in those types of investments rather than shoes, jewellery, and handbags."
Nigeria produced its first female billionaire Folorunsho Alakija, who has $2.5 billion in wealth. Alakija became known as the first ever female billionaire in Nigeria, due to her inheriting a 60% stake in a 630,000 acre oil field off the coast of Nigeria from her late husband. This comprises the majority of her fortune and has made her an important figure within Africa, according to WealthInsight
