The wealth of high-net-worth individuals around the world reached an estimated $50 trillion in 2007 and is expected to grow to $75 trillion by 2012, according to a report from Oliver Wyman, a management consulting firm.

    That's a lot of forecasted wealth creation, but the pace of asset growth is expected to slow from an 11% compounded annual growth rate between 2003 to 2007 to a 9% rate between 2008 to 2012. The report says that growth rates will vary by region, with the Middle East and Asia Pacific-excluding Japan-leading the way.

   The report, "The Future of Private Banking: A Wealth of Opportunity?," examines the rapid growth in global private banking in response to the expansion of the high-net-worth market (defined as people with investible assets of at least $1 million). The report also lays out recommendations for how best to serve this market going forward. It says that even though the growth rate of high-net-worth assets will slow down a bit, there remains huge growth opportunities for wealth managers because only about half of that total is professionally managed or advised.