China, Hong Kong high-net-worth individuals led US$2 trillion decline in global wealth last year, Capgemini says

High-net-worth individuals in Asia-Pacific accounted for about half of a US$2 trillion drop in global wealth last year, according to consultancy Capgemini’s latest annual wealth report. China accounted for about 25 per cent of the decline, while Europe as a whole constituted another 24 per cent of the overall drop.

The total wealth of Asia-Pacific high-net-worth individuals – people with US$1 million in investible assets or more – dropped 4.8 per cent between 2017 and 2018, the highest among any region. Since 2011, wealth in Asia-Pacific has grown 92 per cent, compared with a global growth rate of 62 per cent.

High-net-worth individuals in Hong Kong suffered the worst of the rout, thanks to sensitivity to equity market movements, which accounted for a 13 per cent drop in wealth and 10 per cent drop in their numbers.

Globally, ultra high-net-worth individuals – those with assets worth US$30 million and up – accounted for 75 per cent of the overall decline. Ultra high-net-worth individuals made up less than 1 per cent of the total population surveyed, yet accounted for about 34 per cent of the wealth.

This is the first time the population of high-net-worth individuals and their total wealth have fallen in the past seven years. In 2011, the combined net wealth of high-net-worth individuals was US$42 trillion. By 2017, it had reached US$70.2 trillion. Last year, it fell to US$68.1 trillion.

After a stellar performance in 2017, global market capitalisation fell by 15 per cent last year, said the report’s authors, adding that Chinese markets lost more than US$2.5 trillion in market capitalisation because of the US-China trade war. In 2017, global GDP grew 3 per cent and global market capitalisation grew 21.8 per cent. In 2018, global GDP growth slowed to 2.9 per cent, while market capitalisation fell 14.9 per cent.