IF YOU are looking for a millionaire, it is rich pickings in Singapore - which has the highest concentration of well-heeled people in Asia.
A new report estimates that there are 55,000 people who each have net assets, excluding their main home, above the magic US$1 million (S$1.6 million) mark.
That is a concentration of 1.48 per cent of its adult population, far higher than the global average of 0.22 per cent and Asia's average of 0.1 per cent.
With 1.4 million millionaires, Japan has a concentration of 1.29 per cent, while China, with 320,000 rich, has a level of 0.03 per cent.
Millionaire ranks in Singapore are growing, due to the stock-market boom. The Merrill Lynch-Capgemini survey found the number of wealthy people here rose 13.4 per cent last year to 55,000, of which 1.3 per cent are ultra-rich with assets of more than US$30 million.
Collectively, Singapore's wealthy - known as high-net-worth individuals in the finance industry - held US$260 billion of assets.
'The solid stock-market performance and economic growth were the key drivers of wealth creation in Singapore last year,' said Ms Tho Gea Hong, Merrill Lynch's Singapore market director for its private client unit.
Singapore's rich are particularly sophisticated investors as well, with 37 per cent of their cash in alternative investments such as hedge funds. None of the seven other Asian markets surveyed had such a high allocation in these type of investments, with the average being about 20 per cent.
The balance of the Singapore contingent's assets were spread over other investments, with equities accounting for about 22 per cent, real estate 17 per cent, fixed income 13 per cent and 11 per cent in cash or deposits.
Singapore's rich also had the third-highest average net worth in Asia. Each of the country's 55,000 well-to-do individuals were worth an average of US$4.7 million, trailing Hong Kong with an average of US$5.3 million and China with US$5 million.
The annual survey draws on statistics of total wealth and the distribution of that wealth in each country. Findings are checked using additional surveys and interviews with local financial advisers and fund managers.
The report covered China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
Merrill Lynch said at the report's release yesterday that Asia was home to some of the fastest-growing markets in terms of wealthy individuals, and regional nations occupy five out of the top 10 spots globally.
Last year, Asia's ranks of rich grew by 7.3 per cent from 2004, to 2.4 million people with a combined wealth of US$7.6 trillion. In the same period, the number of ultra-rich grew by 12.1 per cent to 15,600, suggesting a concentration of wealth in the region.
The huge growth in the number of affluent people in Asia has generated a huge demand for skilled financial brains to serve them.
Merrill's market managing director for the South Asia region in its private client division, Mr Kong Eng Huat, expects the number of private bankers it employs here to rise by 20 to 25 per cent a year over the next two years.
He estimated that about 10,000 private bankers will be needed - double the number employed now.
The report forecasts the wealth of Asia's rich to reach US$10.6 trillion by 2010.
lorna@sph.com.sg
| Growing ranks of wealthy |
Millionaire ranks in Singapore are growing, thanks to the stock-market boom. Collectively, Singapore's wealthy held US$260 billion (S$415 billion) of assets last year. Singapore's rich are particularly sophisticated investors, with 37 per cent of their cash in alternative investments such as hedge funds. The balance of the Singapore contingent's assets were spread over equities (22 per cent), real estate (17 per cent), fixed income (13 per cent) and cash or deposits (11 per cent). |
