Singapore now has 77,000 millionaires

Singapore now has 77,000 millionaires
Jun 26, 2008
my paper

SINGAPORE has climbed the ranks of the millionaire club: It is now No. 7 in the world's top 10 list of fastest-growing populations of high rollers.

The country saw a 15.3 per cent rise - or an addition of 10,000 people - to 77,000 millionaires, according to the 12th annual World Wealth Report, prepared by United States investment bank Merrill Lynch and information technology group Capgemini.

The report defines a millionaire as a person possessing more than US$1 million (S$1.37 million) in net assets, excluding his main residence and other consumables.

Asia was home to some of the world's fastest-growing populations of millionaires, according to the report.

Topping the top-10 list was India, followed by China. For India, the number of its millionaires jumped 22.7 per cent last year to 123,000, while the number of high rollers in China rose 20.3 per cent to 415,000.

Other countries in the top 10 list are Brazil, which took the third spot, followed by South Korea, Indonesia, Slovakia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Czech Republic and Russia.

Despite financial turmoil and significant increases in the price of luxury goods, the report said the world's millionaires have an 'unquenchable appetite' for luxury items.

Jewellery, gems and watches attracted the largest share of these 'passion investment allocations' in Asia and the Middle East, the report said.

Globally, these high-priced toys tend to be art collections, yachts, personal jets and similar items, said Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.

But there are regional differences, with Asia's millionaires allocating the most to items like luxury and 'experiential' travel, visits to high-end spas and designer clothes, they said.

Asian millionaires' wealth would grow annually by 7.9 per cent to US$13.9 trillion in 2012, against US$13.5 trillion among Europe's wealthiest, or 4.9 per cent annual growth, the report said.

The number of millionaires in the Asia-Pacific grew 8.7 per cent from a year ago to 2.8million people and their combined wealth soared 12.5 per cent to US$9.5 trillion, excluding the value of their homes and consumables.

'In the Asia-Pacific region, wealth is being created at an unprecedented rate,' said Mr Kong Eng Huat, managing director (South Asia Market) at Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management.

'Notwithstanding the recent dislocation in global markets, the robust economies in Asia are increasingly being driven by the domestic consumption story and continue to spur wealth creation in the region.'

Mr Kong added that, in five years' time, millionaires in Asia would have more combined wealth than those in Europe.

But the rich are also facing the challenges of slower growth in developed markets hit by the credit crisis as well as the risk of high inflation in emerging markets, the report said.