Hong Kong’s multimillionaire population dropped in 2021, according to a recent survey by Citi, in the midst of a challenging period for local equity markets.
The number of multimillionaires in Hong Kong – defined by Citi as an individual with HK$10 million ($1.3 million) in total net assets and at least HK$1 million in liquid assets – fell 15 percent from 515,000 in 2020 to 434,000 last year, according to the survey.
The bank suggested that poor market performance from Hong Kong and Chinese equities over the past year may have played a role with one-third of respondents surveyed saying that they suffered an average of HK$1.1 million loss from stock investments at the worst point.
More Diversification
As a result, investor risk appetite also fell with one-third of respondents saying they took a more conservative stance compared to the previous year in various ways including increased cash holdings or investments in low-risk products and the reduction of equity holdings and new investments.
34 percent of respondents said they held bonds over the last three months, compared to 26 percent a year ago. Willingness to delegate to active management also climbed higher with 52 percent saying they had invested money in mutual funds, a 4 percentage point year-on-year increase.
Wealth Gap
While the multimillionaire population fell, the total net assets of multimillionaires in Hong Kong rose.
The median wealth of this segment was HK$15.7 million, a 1.3 percent year-on-year increase.
Citi’s survey was based on 3,786 respondents who were Hong Kong residents aged between 21 and 79.
