North America has overtaken Asia-Pacific (APAC) to lead the total HNWI population and wealth growth in 2020.
Rising equity markets are driving North America to surpass Asia Pacific as the high net worth individual (HNWI) market leader, according to Capgemini’s World Wealth Report (WWR) for 2021.
Asia Pacific's HNWI population grew 5.8 percent, while HNWI wealth grew 8.4 percent in 2020, compared to 10.7 percent and 11.9 percent growth for North America, respectively, in 2020.
For North American HNWIs, equities made up 30 percent of total asset class investments, compared to 22 percent in Asia Pacific, the report said. The U.S. equity market benefitted from the $2 trillion government stimulus package and the Federal Reserve's announcement of unlimited quantitative easing.
Mixed Performance
The consulting firm also cited mixed performance among APAC markets in countries like China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea, while countries like Australia, Singapore and Thailand observed moderate growth.
However, it said that Asia-Pacific’s structural advantages, such as a younger demographic and robust economic momentum, make it a strong contender to surpass North America in years to come.
Globally, there was a 6.4 percent increase in the HNWI population and a growth of 7.6 percent in HNWI wealth in 2020.
Evolving Behavior
A key finding of the Capgemini report is that the profile and behaviours of the HNWI have evolved.
«This cohort is more self-directed and have a hands-on approach in this internet age. They are more socially invested in managing their wealth and desire hybrid advice models as they can now access information much faster and easily than ever before,» Capgemini noted.
The firm cited a strong inclination towards digital self-service for basic functionalities, with 71 percent of APAC HNWIs saying they now prefer to independently conduct transactions and other services on their own, over receiving human assistance.
