The rich are getting richer

It seems the world’s richest are about to get a whole lot richer, which can only be good news for financial planners focussing on high net worth individuals.

It seems the world’s richest are about to get a whole lot richer, which can only be good news for financial planners focussing on high net worth individuals.

Research by Merrill Lynch and Gemini Consulting has concluded that the world’s richest will get a 12 per cent annual rise in wealth in the next five years.

The 2000 Merrill Lynch, Gemini Consulting world wealth report found the wealth of the world’s richest has increased 18 per cent in 1999 to US$25.5 trillion, and is expected to reach US$44.9 trillion by the end of 2004.

Strong global economic performance and global stock market growth of 37 per cent during the year is cited as the reason for growth.

The report also found the continued rise in the fortunes of high net worth individu-als has increased the number of what they call “ultra high net worth individuals”, ie those who are worth more than US$30 million.

President of Merrill Lynch’s international private client group, Winthrop Smith, says the growth in these ultra high net worth individuals has been fuelled by the overnight millionaires spawned by the Internet boom.

“The growth in U-HNWIs, has been led by self-made technology-related wealth,” Smith says.

More than a million people became high net worth individuals in 1999, according to the definition by the groups. The big winners in 1999 were the 1.7 million wealthy Asian whose wealth has grown by 23 per cent.

The report showed North American and European wealth continues to account for the majority of global wealth surpassing last year’s averages, growing at 17.4 per cent and 19 per cent respectively. Europeans now account for more than 26 per cent of the world’s wealthiest