India home to fourth largest pool of millionaire households worth a staggering US$ 100 mn

At a time when developers across the country are searching high and low for serious buyers and investors to help reduce their rising pile of unsold inventory, a recent report by the renowned Boston Consulting Group (BCG) may just have given them a silver lining and an incentive to redouble their efforts.

In its report titled - Global Wealth 2015: Winning the Growth Game - the global management consultancy company has listed India as home to the fourth largest pool of ultra-high-net-worth households, holding in excess of US$100mn in private wealth.
 
The US has topped the list with the largest number of UHNW households in the world with 5,201, with China coming a distant second with 1,037, followed by the UK at 1,019, India with 928 and Germany standing at 679 in 2014.

The report further states that the continued expansion of China and India, the two largest Asian economies was increasing wealth in the Asia-Pacific region and India’s UHNW households have recorded a remarkable growth from 2013 when the number stood at just 284.

Private wealth in China and India also showed solid market gains driven mainly by investments in local equities, it said. China's equity market rose by 38 percent with India's coming a close second at 23 percent, the report adds.

Private wealth in the Asia-Pacific region expanded by a steep 29 percent last year to touch US$47 trillion, allowing it to overtake Europe (Eastern and Western Europe combined) to become the world's second-richest region, the report adds.

With a projected US$57 trillion in 2016, the Asia-Pacific region (not including Japan) is expected to overtake North America, with a projected wealth of approx US$56 trillion as the wealthiest region in the world and is also likely to be the largest pool for client acquisition.

Interestingly the region is also tipped to control about 34 percent of global wealth in 2019. Riding the back of a projected annual growth rate close to 10 percent, private wealth in the Asia-Pacific region is likely to touch an estimated US$75 trillion in the same year.

The report further adds that global private financial wealth grew by nearly 12 percent last year (2014) to touch US$164 trillion. The percentage of increase was similar to that in 2013, when global wealth had also increased by just over 12 percent, it added.

Total private wealth globally is projected to post a compound annual growth rate of 6 percent over the next five years to settle at approx US$222 trillion in 2019, with the US likely to retain the numero uno position ahead of both China and Japan.

From a global investment perspective an estimated 73 percent (US$13 trillion) of private wealth growth last year was accrued by the sterling market performance of existing assets, while newly created wealth accounted for the balance 27 per cent or US$5 trillion.

While UHNW households accounted for approx US$10 trillion (6 percent) of global private wealth last year, at a projected annual growth rate of about 12 percent over the next five years, the private wealth of the privileged UHNW segment is likely to touch an estimated US$18 trillion in 2019.

The report further states that the total number of global millionaire households increased to 17mn last year, up from 15mn in 2013, driven primarily by a robust market performance of existing assets. While the US had the highest number of millionaires households last year with 7mn, China which came second at 4mn had the highest number of new millionaires (1mn).

The highest density of millionaires was in Switzerland, where 135 out of every 1,000 households had private wealth in excess of US$1 mn followed by Bahrain with 123, Qatar (116), Singapore (107), Kuwait (99) and Hong Kong (94). Singapore (31 per cent) and Hong Kong (15 per cent) remained the top destinations for offshore wealth originating in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan).