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FACTS:
- There are now 95,000 individuals in Hong Kong
with net assets of at least US$1 million (HK$7.8 million), excluding
their primary residence and cars.
The number indicates a 10.2 percent increase in the number of high
net worth individuals in the territory since 2006, according to the
latest annual world wealth report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.
Driving growth last year were the increase in property prices, the 39
percent rise in the Hang Seng Index, real gross domestic product of 6.4
percent driven by robust export growth, and the 55 percent increase in
market capitalization on the Hong Kong stock exchange, the report said.
"Hong Kong continues to attract a lot of listings from
China," said Mark Matthew, senior director and chief Asia
strategist of Merrill Lynch.
The report also showed that the mainland has the second-fastest
growing HNWI population in the world.
It recorded a 20.3 percent increase to 415,000 people last year,
surpassing France as the fifth-largest HNWI population globally.
India has the fastest growth, with a 22.7 percent increase from 2006
to 123,000 individuals last year. -
2008 June 27 THE
STANDARD
- Hong Kong
had 410,000 people with liquid assets worth HK$1 million or more by the end
of last year, Citibank Global Consumer Group said. -
2008 March 27
- There are more Rolls Royce in the
world in Hong Kong on a per capita basis than anywhere else in the world
Millionaire
ranks swell on stock
Hong Kong had an estimated 87,000 US-dollar
millionaires at the end of last year, up 12.2 percent from 77,200 in 2005,
according to the second annual Asia-Pacific Wealth Report released yesterday
by Merrill Lynch and business consultancy firm Capgemini.
Last year's growth rate followed a 14.4 percent increase in 2005.
Hong Kong's high-net-worth-individuals - defined as those with a minimum
US$1 million (HK$7.8 million) of net assets, excluding their principal
residence and consumables - had wealth amounting to US$460 billion.
Of the nine countries and places in the poll, Hong Kong HNWIs stayed on
top in terms of the highest average net worth at US$5.4 million, followed by
mainlanders at US$5 million, Singaporeans at US$4.9 million, Indonesians and
Indians, both at US$3.5 million; and Taiwanese at US$3.3 million.
The regional average was US$3.3 million, compared to US$3.9 million
globally.
The upswing in Hong Kong's millionaire population was driven by the
economy, particularly a bullish stock market. The millionaires held 34
percent of their assets in properties and 26 percent in equity investments.
Of the 87,000, some 1,330 are ultra- high-net-worth-individuals - those
with more than US$30 million in assets.
"Economic conditions in Hong Kong remained buoyant in 2006 on the
back of China's continued expansion," said Stephen Corry, an
Asia-Pacific investment strategist for Merrill Lynch.
Regional millionaires as a whole had wealth amounting to US$8.4 trillion,
up 10.5 percent. Among the region's 17,500 ultra-HNWIs, more than 28 percent
are mainlanders. - 2007
October 18
More people
in Hong Kong happy to be millionaires
It is
not difficult to bump into a millionaire in Hong Kong as there is one among
every 20 adults, according to a survey released by Citibank.
The number of millionaires - defined as
an individual aged 21 to 79 with liquid assets worth at least HK$1 million -
rose to 276,000 in 2006, up slightly from 274,000 the previous year,
representing 5.2 percent of Hong Kong's adults.
While the numbers remained relatively
stagnant, the average amount of their liquid assets jumped 40 percent last
year to HK$5.6 million from HK$4 million, thanks to strong performance of
the equity markets.
Citibank's survey was based on telephone
interviews with 3,300 respondents between November 6 and December 7. The
results indicate that 51 percent of millionaires are female, slightly more
than last year's 49 percent. Also, there are less single millionaires as 88
percent of them are married, compared to the 85 percent recorded in 2005.
The survey also offers a rough estimate
on how happy millionaires are compared to non-millionaires.
With a scale of zero to 10, with 10 being
the happiest, a millionaire has an average "happiness index" of
7.5, while non-millionaires stand at 6.3.
Female millionaires are happy at 7.8,
while male ones are slightly lower at 7. Apart from "personal
health" and "family member health," "children's
education" is the "most concerning item" for both
millionaires and non- millionaires.
Average total assets per millionaire in
2006 amounted to HK$9.9 million, with 57 percent being liquid assets, and 39
percent properties.
Property is also the greatest burden, as
property loans account for 70 percent of liabilities, Citibank found.
Millionaires care more about financial
news than non-millionaires - 64 percent of them read the financial section
of a daily newspaper.
Only 38 percent of non-millionaires
do so. - THE
STANDARD 2007 February 14
The wealth
of Hong Kong dollar millionaires surged last year, even as their numbers
remained stagnant, according to a Citibank survey
The wealth of Hong Kong
dollar millionaires surged last year, even as their numbers remained
stagnant, according to a Citibank survey.
Hong Kong's 274,000 millionaires increased their
wealth 17.6 percent on the back of strong economic growth and a bullish
stock market, the annual Citibank Hong Kong Consumer Wealth Review found.
On average, each held about HK$4 million in liquid
assets last year, up from HK$3.4 million a year earlier.
For the purposes of the survey, to be a considered
a millionaire, an individual must have liquid assets of HK$1 million or
more. Property assets do not qualify.
The review, conducted every year since 2003,
polled by phone more than 3,000 Hong Kongers, with ages ranging from 21 to
79, between November and mid-December for the 2005 edition.
It found the number of millionaires composed 5.3
percent of the adult population within the survey age group - that is, five
millionaires in every 100 Hong Kongers.
The age of the group is getting younger, with
those under 40 swelling to 26 percent last year from 23 percent in 2004,
according to the survey.
"When the investment market and economy
perform well, more jobs are available and salaries rise, so Hong Kong's
working population gets wealthier," said Weber Lo, chief operating
officer and director of retail banking at Citibank.
"That may explain why the age of Hong Kong
millionaires is getting younger."
Their numbers and wealth will keep rising this
year, given the continuing expansion of the local economy, Lo said.
Citibank estimates the city's economy will grow
between 4 and 5 percent this year, slower than the 7.3 percent surge in
2005.
The Hang Seng Index, a benchmark for the Hong Kong
stock market, rose 4.5 percent last year. The bullish stock market adds
wealth to millionaires since stock investment is their major liquid asset,
Lo said.
About 49 percent of respondents said most of their
gain in liquid assets came through investment in non- property assets, such
as stocks, mutual funds and time deposits, while 25 percent said their gains
came mostly from property investment. The estimated 274,000 millionaires had
distributed 32 percent of their average HK$4 million liquid assets in
stocks, 36 percent in deposits, 16 percent in mutual funds, 8 percent in
bonds, and the remaining 8 percent in other investment tools.
The better investment sentiment in 2005 prompted
77 percent of the millionaires to invest in stocks, compared with 73 percent
in 2004; while 65 percent placed their liquid assets into time deposits in
the face of rising interest rates last year. Saving deposit rates, for
example, have increased to about 2.75 percent from almost zero in early
2005.
The survey also verified common knowledge that
more wealthy residents are clustered on Hong Kong Island. It found that one
in seven Hong Kong Island residents are millionaires, against one in every
35 people in Kowloon and one in 28 in the New Territories and Islands.
- by Lee Yuk-kei THE STANDARD
24 February 2006
Hong Kong Millionaires
>>
MORE
The number of people with more than $1 million in liquid assets rose to
more than 274,000 last year from about 260,000 in 2003, according to a
Citibank survey - 24 Feb
2004 SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
The number of millionaires in Hong Kong rose 30 per cent last year as the
economy rebounded from the Sars outbreak and a prolonged decline in the
property market, a study finds.
The Capgemini/Merrill Lynch report found about 45,000 Hongkongers - equal
to one in 150 - were US dollar millionaires last year. Their combined wealth
was US$437 billion. This compares with an estimated global figure of 7.7
million millionaires, or an average of about one out of every 800 people.
"The economic recovery brought Hong Kong's high-net-worth
individuals back to the level registered in 2001," said Cheong Soon
Tan, a managing director for Merrill Lynch's private banking arm. These are
defined as people with financial assets of at least US$1 million, excluding
their homes.
About 45,000 individuals met this criterion last year, a rise of 30 per
cent from 2002 and the largest percentage rise among the 68 countries
surveyed. India, in second place, had a 22 per cent increase.
However, Mr Tan said the substantial rise was largely explained by the
slump in 2002, when the number of millionaires in Hong Kong shrank to
35,000.
"Next year, I don't think we can expect that kind of increase, I
think 30 per cent is hard to beat," he said. Mr Tan pointed out that as
Asian millionaires hold on average 30 per cent of their financial assets
offshore, the global economic recovery has also been significant in
rebuilding local ranks. "Part of the reason is regional, part of it is
global," he said.
The seven-digit club is also growing on the mainland, with 236,000
millionaires holding combined wealth of US$969 billion at the end of last
year, a 12 per cent rise on 2002.
Chen Chiping, vice-president of Capgemini China, said: "The reasons
are economic restructuring and reforms, and the emergence of
entrepreneurship and the middle class in China, both of which have a rising
appetite for consumption."
He said the real figure could be much higher, as wealthy individuals in
China may invest in Hong Kong, either illegally or by taking advantage of
grey areas in rules, due to the lack of sophisticated wealth management
products in China.
Mr Chen expects the rise in wealthy mainlanders will lead to a shift in
investment strategies, referring to a separate Capgemini study showing
individual bank savings reached US$1.2 trillion last year.
Japan is still the wealthiest Asian country with 1.3 million
millionaires, up nearly 6 per
cent.
- Stuart Biggs South
China Morning Post 17 June 2004
45,000 millionaires in SAR
Hong Kong's unemployment rate may be rising, but so too is the number of its
millionaires.
According to the 2002 World Wealth Report
conducted by Merrill Lynch and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, there were
45,000 millionaires in Hong Kong last year.
The report said high-net-worth individuals (HNWI)
- those with financial assets worth over US$1 million (HK$7.8 million)
excluding real estate - grew in number last year. But it did not report the
actual growth rate.
The number of such individuals in Asia rose almost
7 per cent to 1.73 million at the end of last year.
Their combined wealth grew 7.1 per cent to an
estimated US$5.1 trillion at the end of last year.
That is about a quarter of 7.1 million such
individuals across the world and represented about a fifth of their US$26.2
trillion in investments, up 3 per cent from 2000.
``This is mainly due to the high savings rates and
that some markets were actually doing well last year, such as South Korea,
Thailand, and of course China,'' said Cap Gemini Ernst & Young manager
Raymond Ng, who refused to disclose how many of the millionaires were from
China.
Europe experienced zero growth last year, and the
United States saw a 1.7 per cent increase.
According to the report, tough economic conditions
last year had a predictably adverse impact on wealth creation around the
globe.
Gross domestic product expansion, which had begun
to fall off in the second half of 2000, continued to drop last year.
Asian millionaires, meanwhile, spread their
investment risk after the financial crisis in 1998.
``After the Asian crisis, many Asian millionaires
diversified their wealth by spreading their investment risk across their
portfolio. They increased the proportion of hedge fund and fixed-income
investments to protect their portfolio,'' Merrill Lynch's international
private client unit chairman for Asia Pacific, Francis Chan, said.
Based on historical data and economic trends, Chan
said the economy will show a modest recovery through 2003. ``By the end of
2006, the HNWI wealth will rise by an average of 8 per cent a year, reaching
US$38.5 trillion.
``Despite the difficult times, global GDP and the
stock markets have exhibited significant underlying powers of recovery. As
that strength re-emerges, HNWIs will once again invest more confidently,
fuelling their wealth growth over the long term.'' -by
Anita Ng Imail
19 June 2002
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