The world gained more wealthy people in 2019, as the population of high-net-worth individuals jumped nearly 9%, according to the “World Wealth Report 2020” from Capgemini.
North America had the biggest gains with an 11% increase in both the high-net-worth individual population and their wealth. Europe was next with a 9% increase in its wealthy population, followed by an 8% increase in the Asia-Pacific region.
This marks the first time since 2012 that North America and Europe have surpassed the Asia-Pacific region to lead global performance in both the high-net-worth population and the growth of its wealth, the report said (North America saw a wealth decline in 2018).
The U.S. added 11% in the population of the wealthy, a stark contrast to 2018 when the increase was just 1%. The report attributed the jump to fourth-quarter gains in U.S. equities as trade uncertainty faded in December when the U.S. and China rolled out their Phase One trade deal. The report also said the markets benefited from measures taken by the Federal Reserve to pump billions of dollars into the financial system after tumult in mid-September.
The U.S. benefited as well from the optimism surrounding technology companies. The top five contributors in the market surge were tech stocks—Apple and Microsoft accounted for nearly 15% of S&P gains, according to the Capgemini report, which covered 71 countries accounting for more than 98% of global gross national income and 99% of world stock market capitalization.
The “Capgemini 2020 Global HNW Insights Survey” was conducted in January and February and included more than 2,500 high-net-worth individuals across 21 major wealth markets.
Other countries posting gains in both the high-net-worth population and wealth in 2019 included Canada, which saw an increase of more than 8%. The report said diminishing U.S.-Canada trade tension had a significant impact on Canada’s equities market, with the S&P/TSX Composite rising more than 19% following a nearly 12% decline in 2018.
The United Kingdom, amid the uncertainty surrounding Brexit throughout 2019, saw a 6% increase in both wealthy individuals and their wealth. Sweden’s gain of more than 10% in high-net-worth population growth helped it crack the top 25 market, ranking 23rd, while the Netherlands joined the top 10 because of its robust real estate sector growth and an increase in market capitalization.
But the top five markets remain the U.S., Japan, Germany, China and France.
The report noted that both individual wealth and the wealthy population growth were more evenly distributed across all wealth bands in 2019 than they were in 2018. However, they grew at an even pace in 2019 for the millionaire-next-door and mid-tier millionaire wealth bands, while the ultra-wealthy growth was below average compared with the overall wealthy population growth (8.2% versus 9.1%).
The report described millionaires -next-door, which represented 90% of the high-net-worth population, as having $1 million to $5 million in investable wealth. Mid-tier millionaires, which accounted for 9% of the wealthy population, are those with $5 million to $30 million. And those in the ultra-high-net-worth category, who hold $30 million or more, represented just 0.9%.