Canada, on the other hand, felt the effects of jittery financial markets, and its wealthy population fell by 4 percent, their wealth by 6 percent.
The report found that the asset allocations of the wealthy also shifted significantly—cash replaced equities to become the most held asset class in the first quarter of 2019, representing 28 percent of high-net-worth individuals’ financial wealth, while equities declined 5 percentage points, slipping to the second position at nearly 26 percent.
Volatile equity market conditions also spurred an increase in allocation toward alternative investments to 13 percent, up 4 percentage points from the previous year.
The report also noted that despite declining wealth, high-net-worth individuals’ year-over-year trust and satisfaction in wealth managers and firms remained steady; it was 79 percent for wealth managers and 82 percent for firms.
Compared to Europe and Asia-Pacific, the report said high-net-worth individuals in North America indicated the most trust and confidence in their wealth managers (88 percent) and firms (91 percent).
However, the report pointed out that as the industry evolves and as the expectations of the wealthy shift, the way firms deliver value to clients will be critical, as an unsatisfactory service experience was the biggest reason for the rich to switch their firms in 2018.
“The World Wealth Report 2019” combines two surveys: the Capgemini “2019 Global HNW Insights Survey” (which included more than 2,500 high-net-worth individuals across 19 major wealth markets in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and the 2019 “Capgemini Wealth Manager Survey,” which included around 250 wealth managers across major wealth markets in North America and Europe.