Growth in the number of Hong Kong rich slows

There were 114,000 HNWIs in HK in 2012.

In its survey of High Net Worth Individuals or HNWIs, consultancy firm Capgemini said the number of these persons in Hong Kong rose by more than a third in 2012, the fastest growth in the Asia Pacific region.

Capgemini, however, said the trend is will not be sustained since the assets of most Hong Kong HNWIs were only slightly above US$1 million. A HNWI is a person with at least US$1 million or HK$7.8 million in investible assets.

Hong Kong HNWIs placed 28% of their assets in cash, mainly parked in renminbi deposits, while 20% were in property and 24% in equity.

The number of HNWIs in Hong Kong came to 114,000 in 2012, up 35.7% from 2011. Their cumulative wealth also grew at a significant rate, surging 37% to US$560 billion or fifth in the region.

High net worth individuals year in the Asia-Pacific region grew 9.4% to 3.68 million last with their cumulative wealth rising 12.2% to US$12 trillion, second to North America.