Hong Kong has more US dollar millionaires this year, as calmer streets boost confidence and perception of wealth
- As of May 2020, there were around 504,000 people in Hong Kong worth HK$10 million (US$1.29 million) or more in total assets, according to a Citibank report
- ‘Investors estimated their wealth with respect to the general market sentiment and short-term social events,’ says Citibank Hong Kong’s retail bank head Josephine Lee Kwai Chong
Hong Kong’s ranks of US dollar-denominated millionaires grew this year, as a booming stock market and bursting schedule of initial public offerings boosted wealth, while the cessation of street protests provided some solace to businesses struggling with the city’s worst recession in history.
As many as 504,000 people in Hong Kong are estimated to have HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) each in total assets this year, an increase of 91,000, or 22 per cent, from 2019, according to Citibank’s Hong Kong Affluent Study 2019/2020. One in five of these wealthy people owned at least HK$10 million in liquid assets – stocks, bonds or currency holdings, excluding property – with the median wealth at HK$17 million, according to the poll of 3,500 people aged 21 to 79.
“Investors estimated their wealth with respect to the general market sentiment and short-term social events,” Citibank Hong Kong’s retail bank head, Josephine Lee Kwai Chong, said during a press conference. “Governments around the globe are adopting measures to help the market [amid the coronavirus pandemic], so investors’ sentiment is more positive [compared with 2019].”
Hong Kong had more dollar millionaires in 2018, with 511,000 people estimated to have at least HK$10 million in assets.
“Though the Hong Kong stock market’s performance was not bad at the end of 2019, investors’ outlook for the market was more pessimistic due to the general social environment,” Lee said, referring to the one-fifth shrinkage in the number of multimillionaires by the end of 2019, at the height of the anti-government protests.