St. James Place is unequivocal - the city-state will remain a leading destination for British high-net-worth individuals.
The recent shift in the UK's tax regime to a new, long-term resident rule hasn't - at least not yet - prompted a largish cavalcade of pop and rockstars to up and leave the country, as it did in the 1960s and 1970s when the Beatles released «Taxman» and the Rolling Stones recorded «Exile on Main Street».
But these are early days and the UK government is not being quite as unreasonable, even nonsensical, as it was back then when the wealthy could be faced, at the peak of it all in 1974, with a tax rate of up to 98 percent on their earnings and investment income.
Perking Up
Still, the latent reflex and muscle memory of those decades remain seemingly in place, and this year's shift from a non-domicile regime to a long-term resident one, as finews.asia reported in November, is already prompting wealth managers and related advisories to get ready for some booking center action.
As an example, St. James Place indicated in a media alert released Monday that it expects Singapore to continue to be a clear beneficiary of the change.
Second Place
«In a report published before the Budget on the migration of multi-millionaires, centi-millionaires and billionaires, Singapore was second only behind the UAE for destinations that would receive the most individuals,» indicated Tony Müdd, divisional director of development and technical consultancy at St. James Place.
In that same report, the UK was second only to China as the location that would «lose the most» such individuals.
Many Factors
«Was there anything in the UK Budget that would change the outflow of individuals? No, quite the reverse. Internationally-mobile individuals choose their location based on lifestyle, safety, schooling, healthcare, business opportunities and climate. Singapore is strongly positioned to be a leading beneficiary of the UK changes,» Muedd maintained.
If it does unleash a wave of wealthy exiles, however, it is unlikely that aging rock and popstars will be making as big a splash as they once did. For one, AI-generated music and the likes of streaming services such as Spotify have significantly thinned out their ranks and once unendingly deep pockets.
